Down the Rabbit Hole
by Captain Cendol
Summary: Murder, a message from Artemis and unrest in Haven City. Something's up and this time the LEP can't solve this as soon as they like. Can they get to the ones responsible before Haven descends into total chaos and takes everyone along with it? After TTP
1. Prologue

**Summary:** Murder, a message from Artemis and unrest in Haven City. Something's up and this time the Lower Elements Police can't solve this as soon as they like. Can they get to the ones responsible for this before Haven descends into total chaos and takes everyone along with it? [Takes place after The Time Paradox]

Title taken from the first chapter of Lewis Carroll's _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ - but this story doesn't reference the book, so never fear if you haven't read it. I chose the title because most of the story will take place below ground. (Not a good reason, but ah well.) First chaptered fic - so please leave your thoughts and criticism in reviews!

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Prologue

**Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia**

The small figure with the headscarf stood at the edge of the Klang River, head bowed as he or she watched the brown water rushing past. Seen from a distance, it resembled a young child standing beside the river, out alone past her bedtime. Street lights from the roads above threw the concrete banks and the walls into a dim orange light, producing shadows that looked longer and deeper than they should. The noises of the city could be heard in the distance – motorcycles, cars, and voices – the river wound through the heart of the city. It was night, late too, but this was the city, and there were many who did not sleep.

One of the shadows detached itself from the darkness under a bridge and approached the figure by the river.

'The plan will proceed soon, like you said,' said the shadow. It was a male voice, although this person was less than four feet tall.

The figure in the headscarf nodded and said nothing, face still turned to the swollen river.

'I'll keep in contact,' the male voice continued.

'Thank you,' the first figure replied, the voice soft and decidedly feminine. But it was colder too.

The male figure headed back under the bridge where he had emerged, melting into the shadows.

The child in the headscarf nodded and walked away.

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**A/N: **Why Malaysia? It's my home country, for one. XD


	2. Chapter 1: Back in Haven

Chapter 1: Back in Haven

**Octagon Square, Haven City**

Octagon Square was perhaps one of the more well-to-do suburbs in Haven City, with many fairy dignitaries and ambassadors owning property and living within the area. Situated within a five minutes' ride by shuttle to the heart of Haven itself, this area had become the prime place to live for any fairy that had recently made his money or climbed up the slippery rungs of Haven's society ladder. The old money families – such as those in Principality Hill and Imlad Road – looked down with contempt on those who lived in Octagon Square, but it didn't stop the younger fairies from flocking to the area when they had the money and the opportunity.

It was also a relatively new suburb, with the oldest houses built only a hundred years ago. The houses here were larger and better kept than those within the inner suburbs of Haven, and the streets were considered cleaner than those within the city area itself. It was a respectable suburb, so to speak. You either had to have the money or the influence to live here.

A lone female elf could be seen jogging along the streets, her buzz-cut auburn hair slicked with sweat. This was a safe neighbourhood after all – there was no need for her to worry about potential snatch thieves or troublemakers. Even the LEP had a smaller patrol in Octagon Square, since the crime rate here was low.

_Because it's what we do_, she thought.

The sun strips overhead had dimmed half an hour ago, bathing the area in orangey twilight. It would be day above ground, but night here. She turned down a smaller street, her mind running through the thoughts that had kept her occupied since she started her jog. Artificial trees flashed past her in brief green flickers, barely registering on her consciousness.

_You do the job you have to do_.

She slowed to a stop in front of a particular gap in the trees, catching her breath. A path led between the shrubbery and up to a house crouched behind trees and untrimmed bushes. Houses were expensive real estate in this part of Haven City – but then again, this particular owner didn't need to be rich to have this house.

She turned into the path and paused a little way along, her eyes on the house. Were there lights on in there?

'Hello, Holly,' said someone behind her.

She whirled around, surprised. Vinyáya smiled back at her, her long silver hair orange in the light from the sun strips.

'I came for a visit, like I said I would,' said Holly, smiling uncertainly.

Vinyáya had recently been quiet in the LEP, but remained active in the Council. Holly hadn't seen her since her return from Hybras, despite Vinyáya's repeated invitations to come visit. So many things to do; so many people to meet…but Holly had run out of excuses lately, and Trouble had advised her to visit her Wing Commander before Vinyáya lost patience.

'Glad to see you made the time.' Vinyáya had not moved; she remained where she was without any indication that she was going to invite Holly inside.

'Er…yeah, I was out jogging round the area, so thought I'd drop by…'

'Is there anything you'd like to say to me?'

'Not – not really. I came here like you asked me to,' said Holly. _What's going on?_ she wondered. _Did Vinyáya forget that she had invited me over?_

'I see.' Vinyáya nodded. 'Well, it's late now – you should be home, Short.'

'I – I will.' Holly backed away down the path, grinning at the older elf. 'See you later, Vinyáya. Catch you another time!'

She ran on without a backward glance, feeling Vinyáya's gaze on her back before she turned at the next corner.

_Slow down_. She came to a halt a few streets away, frowning. What was up with Vinyáya? She had always been friendly with Holly – and she had been so persistent in getting Holly to meet her after her return – so why this sudden coldness? Had things changed far more than she, Holly, had known?

She could ask Foaly, naturally. And Trouble. And there were a few other officers who would only be too glad to tell her about the changes that had taken place when she was gone.

But who could she ask, _exactly_? You didn't march into the Ops Booth one fine day and demand that Foaly spill out everything that had happened since you left – he would tell you, most of it anyway – but he didn't know everything. The centaur was smart, but there were some things that remained a mystery to him, and there were some things that he just didn't bother to care about. Like people and their relationships with other people who did not concern him, for example.

How about Trouble? As the new commander of Recon, he would know a lot, of course. He was the kind of person who saw that he knew everything that was going on, and a lot more besides. But he wouldn't know everything about someone who wasn't active in the LEP anymore, would he? Someone like Vinyáya would probably escape his notice, wouldn't she?

'You do the job you have to do, Short, and quit worrying over people,' she muttered to herself. Root had been right then, and he was right now. As always.

Wait…there was someone who might know. Granted, he wasn't even in the LEP, but you could count on him to pick up on the things that other people might miss. He had his ear to the ground, as it were…

_Ah, Mulch_.

**Diggums and Day PI firm, Haven City**

'Holly!' The dwarf grinned widely at her as she stepped over the threshold. 'I thought you were dead!'

'You don't look disappointed, Mulch,' she said. 'I've just been busy, that's all.'

'Yeah, busy saving some Mud Boy eh?' He winked at her. 'Don't think you can get involved in your old hijinks and not have me know what you've been up to.'

'Do you and Foaly have weekly chats or what?' she snorted. 'I've been _busy_. With _LEP_. In case you've forgotten, I've recently been reinstated.'

'Yeah yeah.' Mulch waved a hairy hand dismissively. 'Busy with LEP business, she says. Does LEP business always involve a certain person by the name of Fowl?'

'It'll be better for you to keep a lid on that, Diggums,' she said. 'If you know what's good for you.'

'Ooo,' Mulch groaned, pretending to clutch at his cheeks in terror, 'I feel so threatened.'

'Quit it, funny man.' She settled in the only other chair in the room, noting that it was smaller than she was used to. This must be Day's personal chair, she thought idly. 'How's the firm doing?'

'Not too bad, Holly, not too bad.' Mulch's fingers clattered over the keyboard beside him as graphs scrolled on the computer screen. 'Our profits are on the up and up, and we're gaining a good reputation as I sit here doing nothing. We're the unbeatable pair in this business – Diggums and Day, ha.'

'Haven't tried to kill each other yet, both of you? I'm astounded.'

'We have our best interests at heart,' said Mulch, wagging a finger at Holly. 'Co-operation and communication, that's the key; you can't run a firm when you're trying to do each other in all the time.'

'If I recall correctly, you weren't so buddy-buddy with Day before I left.'

'Three years can work wonders, Holly,' said the dwarf. 'A lot has changed since you left.'

_I don't need you to remind me of that, Mulch_.

'Oh yes…there is something I have to ask you.'

Mulch shook his head in amusement. 'Why am I not surprised?' He leaned back in his seat and produced a carrot from the stash beneath his desk. 'Carrot?' he offered.

'No, thank you.'

'Suit yourself.' He bit on the carrot and looked expectantly at her. 'So what's the problem?'

'See…it's about…Vinyáya.'

'Ah.' Mulch nodded thoughtfully as he crunched on more carrot. 'What about her?'

'I heard she's been quiet in the LEP lately – there've been rumors that she might have an early retirement,' said Holly.

Mulch shrugged. 'I'm not in LEP – why don't you ask Foaly or your friend Commander Kelp? They would know more about her than little old me.'

'Come on, Mulch. _Have_ you heard anything about Vinyáya? Some little bit of information? A passing rumor?'

'I might.' Mulch scratched his beard and finished his carrot. 'I might.'

'Mulch. Come on. Tell me what you know,' she snapped, her patience running out.

'And why would I know what the old elf is up to, Holly? I'm just running a firm here,' said Mulch.

'You've found out something about her that you don't think I should know – is that it?' she guessed.

_I hope not_.

'I might…'

'Mulch!' she cried, grabbing the second carrot out of his hand. 'Tell me now!'

He looked at her indignantly and let out a sigh of exasperation. 'Calm down, Holly. You want to get a heart attack or something?'

'I'm not Julius,' she said, laughing mirthlessly.

He stared at her for several moments. 'Did the time displacement do something to you, Short?'

'No – not – just tell me what you know about Vinyáya, Mulch.'

'You won't like it.'

'Just say it, Mulch, and I won't have to make you.'

He told her. He was right. She didn't like it.

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

'Knock, D'Arvit!' Foaly yelled from where he was half-buried beneath a pile of wires.

Holly stared at the centaur's rump, nonplussed. Huh, this was the welcome she got these days, was it? Come to visit an old friend and he shows you his bum. And then he tells you to knock when you didn't bother to knock before and he didn't care about it.

'What?' Foaly extricated his upper body from under the table and turned to look at her. 'Oh, it's you! I should've known you wouldn't knock.'

'Am I required to knock these days then?' she complained.

'New rules, Holly, for the new recruits,' said Foaly. 'I can't have everyone barging in here without me knowing.'

'I'm not a new recruit,' she pointed out.

'Oh don't get touchy on me, miss. I'm just saying.' He shrugged and smiled at her in welcome. 'So how have you been doing? Haven't seen you around here.'

'Busy with LEP, the usual,' she replied. 'Trouble's been sending me out on solo missions now. As you well know.'

Foaly frowned at her. 'What's up with you today, Holly? Kelp giving you trouble?' He snorted at the joke, but Holly was not amused.

'Okay, okay,' he said, sitting down in his specially modified swivel chair. 'One thing at a time. I've been your guide on your missions – of course I know how busy you've been. Even on that solo mission you did with the time jaunt.' He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. 'There are some gaps to your story, Holly. Some parts don't fit. You can't fool me.'

'I didn't try to,' she protested. 'I did tell you everything.'

'I'll believe you when the Fowl boy tells me the same thing.' He smirked. 'You both are thick as thieves these days.'

'Yes, yes,' she said. _How much does he know?_ 'You and your paranoia again, Foaly.'

'I'm not paranoid and you know it.' He took off his tin-foil hat to scratch his head. 'But you're not going to tell me about it, I can tell.'

'Genius,' said Holly.

'Thank you.' Foaly winked at her. 'Watch your mouth, Holly. I might have to tell the commander more than he should know.'

'You're not the only one who can play dirty, centaur,' she retorted. It felt like old times again – the useless banter, the friendly insults they threw at each other. Had Foaly missed this while she was away? She had not even asked him about it, maybe she couldn't bring herself to. And he had been busy with his new life with Caballine.

'So what seems to be the matter?' asked Foaly. 'Does it involve a certain Mud Boy we have come to expect?'

'His name is Artemis, Foaly,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'We're his friends now, aren't we?'

'I still don't like the fact that he calls us whenever he needs help,' grumbled Foaly. 'We're not his personal secret service and he needs to learn that.'

'But the last one was to save his mother,' she protested.

'But he did lie to you, didn't he, Holly?' said Foaly sharply. 'Don't think I missed that part. He lied to you to get what he wanted.'

_We'll always have doubts about each other_. She hauled herself up to sit on the edge of a worktable, her eyes on the ground. Foaly would still be looking at her, she knew, but she couldn't meet his eyes, not just yet. _I told you that and we both know it's true. But now it's not only about us, is it? What have you done, Artemis?_

'Yes, he did,' she said softly. 'But he's sorry for it.'

Foaly let out a snort of disbelief. 'He has changed, granted, but there are some people you can't trust all the way, Holly.'

_And I trusted him_, she thought. _I trusted him with my job, even with my life. Was I wrong to do that?_

'Aww, look at you.' Foaly clopped over to her with a can of beetle juice. 'Have this, my treat. Cheer up, Holly, it's not so bad. It's not like you to get so glum over this. The happy shots are still available if you want them – the LEP psych was in here yesterday talking to me about time displacement.'

'Happy shots,' she scoffed, taking the beetle juice and grinning. 'The psych can have his happy shots if he wants. I told him no!'

'Fair enough.' Foaly leaned on the worktable, his expression curious. 'So what brings you here today, really, Holly?'

'Vinyáya,' she replied, before taking a swig of the juice. 'What has she been up to?'

'Oh nothing much, she's been pretty quiet. The Council voted to absorb Section Eight into the LEP, since we don't need a secret organization to study a known family any longer. The demons are doing all right, but Vinyáya's not directly involved in the efforts to get them integrated into Haven society. She's still Wing Commander, but has less duties now – something about it being only a matter of time before she steps down from the LEP to make way for the younger officers.' Foaly paused, catching the grimace that had flitted across the elf's face. 'What happened?'

'I went to visit her just now,' Holly explained. 'She's invited me over so many times, and it's been rude of me not to see her sooner. So I went…and she seemed so…odd. Unfriendly. Not her usual self.'

'Did you ask her why?'

'Not really – she didn't seem all that keen to talk.'

'I can't help you out on that, I'm afraid,' said Foaly, shrugging. 'I'm not in much contact with her.'

'Well…thing is…I did ask Mulch before coming here.'

'Oh? And what did he say?'

'He's seen her around Haven, meeting up with ex-LEP members. And a few current LEP officers as well.'

'And what's worrying about that?'

'Vinyáya's not exactly a social person, is she?' Holly gulped down the last of the juice and handed the can to Foaly, who tossed it into the recycling bin.

'I can't say, Holly.'

'I do know her…' Holly stretched her legs out, thinking, thinking about Vinyáya's odd behaviour. 'And she meets these people in out of the way places too, according to Mulch. Not the usual hang outs of LEP senior officers, if you know what I mean.'

'I suggest you take it up with the commander, if you want to know more,' said Foaly. 'In the meantime, I'll see what I can look up for you. However –,' he paused, giving Holly a warning look, 'I wouldn't look too much into it if I were you. Maybe she just has her personal reason for this.'

'Yeah, maybe.' The elf jumped off the worktable and headed to the door. 'Thanks, Foaly.'

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Reviews, please! I haven't written anything with chapters before, so I'm really nervous about this.

**A/N:** The line 'you do the job you have to do' is taken from Terry Pratchett's _Night Watch_. I was reading the book when I started this - so if you see anything that might look familiar, it probably came from there. *sheepish grin*


	3. Chapter 2: Interlude

Many thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapters! Your reviews are seriously encouraging, wheee :)

Whoops, forgot to add a disclaimer earlier, so here goes -

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters or anything else from the Artemis Fowl books - they belong to Eoin Colfer. But I do own the minor characters that may pop up along the way :P

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Chapter 2: Interlude

**Breakhill Road, Haven City**

One of the most galling things about returning home, as Holly Short told herself, was how much things had not changed on her street. Her flat was situated within one of Haven's inner suburbs, close to Police Plaza, near to where she had grown up three roads away. It was a quiet area, mostly lined with apartment buildings and houses belonging to the younger Haven fairies who lived like Holly did – alone, or perhaps recently married, with their careers and futures in mind.

But despite her disappearance for three years, the same rubbish bins remained, the same scraps of stray wrapping and paper flapped on the pavement and even the same sun strips flickered on and off in the same spots along the road.

Foaly had kept her flat vacant for her, expecting her to come home any day. The landlady had been a bit difficult on that, insisting that other fairies would pay much more for the rent, thank you very much, and she didn't see why she had to keep the flat open to some elf who might not even be back alive. It was only until Vinyáya had a private chat with the landlady herself that the gnome had relented and agreed to keep the flat for a certain elf who was lost in time but might be back any time soon.

And so Holly had her flat back. The first few days had been a nightmare of house-cleaning, and considering that she had not been the fussiest housekeeper even before she vanished, there had been a lot to do. But Trouble had – inexplicably – rescued her ferns for her and kept them healthy while she was away. So that was all right then. One particular pot of catnip had been a gift from her LEP Academy friends when she had moved into the flat years ago; she had been rather fond of that and was glad to see that Trouble had remembered to keep it alive for her.

Trouble, now. Holly rubbed the back of her neck as she headed down the road to her flat. He used to live in the next road, within easy reach, but these days he had a house in a different neighbourhood. He was a commander, after all. All the perks and privileges of being a commander would mean nothing to Trouble – he would only be concerned about his duty as a commander, knowing him – but it was protocol for him to live in the appointed residence.

She stopped midway along the road, where several street vendors plied their trade in the early evening and into the night. There was a new face among the vendors, a certain pixie who looked Asian, with her dark hair and eyes. The pixie smiled at her as Holly approached the stall. She had passed this place nearly every night and morning on her way to and from Police Plaza, but had not had time to stop and chat.

'Hello,' said the pixie, her face friendly. 'I've seen you around recently.'

'I used to live here,' said Holly, casting her eye over the vendor's wares. Jars and jugs of iced liquid were ranged on the steel top of the stall. 'I was away for a while, now I'm back.'

'Hey Holly,' said the vendor from the next stall, tossing a bar of seaweed crunch to her, 'have this on me. Long time no see eh?'

'Been busy, Clam,' she said, grinning. 'Thanks.'

'Busy saving the lost family eh?' said Clam, to laughter from the other vendors.

'Yeah.' She tore the wrapping of the crunch and bit into the seaweed. It was good to be back.

'Want to try one of these?' said the pixie, gesturing to her goods. 'Drinks and desserts.'

'What's this then?' Holly pointed to a jar with brown liquid. There appeared to be green worms floating in it. And kidney beans, strangely enough.

'Cendol,' said the pixie, ladling out some into a bowl. 'Try it, it's free.'

'I haven't seen this before.' Holly gingerly dipped the proffered spoon into the dessert and sipped it. It was sweet and icy.

'Oh, it's a specialty in the Southeast Asia region,' the pixie explained, laughing. 'I used to live near there. Packed up and moved here three months ago. Heard that there was money to be made here, so I came.'

'So how's it been going then?' Holly chewed on a worm, wondering why it didn't taste anything like worms did.

'That's made of rice flour,' the pixie said, noting Holly's bemused expression. 'Business hasn't been too bad – I tried my first week in Frond Square, but the LEP gave me a friendly warning to move my stall.'

'Don't want to clutter up the place with foreigners,' said Holly, smiling. Frond Square was where the rich and influential fairies clustered – the old families often had their second or third homes there.

'I suppose so,' said the pixie, shrugging good-naturedly. 'What's your name?'

'Short, Holly Short.' Holly put down the bowl to shake the pixie's hand. 'And yours?'

'Hani.' The pixie shook her hand. 'Pleased to meet you.'

'How do you like it here in Haven, Hani?'

'I haven't had time to explore the city yet,' the pixie laughed. 'I've been so busy. I pick up what I can from these people here.' She waved a hand behind her, where the other vendors were listening in on the conversation.

'I might show you around someday,' Holly offered. _Now where did that come from?_ It wasn't like her to offer new acquaintances her company on a whim. She still had her LEP duties to attend to, didn't she?

_But the rest have been so busy…_

'Thank you for that.' Hani nodded, her dark hair falling into her eyes. 'I'm a bit curious to see the demons, myself. I've heard so much about them.'

'They're still in quarantine though.' Except for the demon warlocks – Qwan, No. 1 and Qweffor – the Council had seen it fit to keep the demon colony out of the public eye until the newcomers understood the ways and customs of present fairy society.

'Maybe someday.' Hani smiled in understanding.

'Yeah.' Holly finished the last of the crunch and dropped the wrapping into the nearest bin. 'Night, Hani. It's been nice talking to you. Thanks for the dessert.'

'You're welcome. Nice meeting you, Holly.'

The elf waved to her and the other vendors before running across the road to her flat. There were her ferns to water, maybe a phone call to make to a certain Mud Boy, and then time for bed.

Her life seemed so _normal_ now. But there was a feeling she couldn't shake off, despite her constant thoughts on the matter, which kept her jumpy and uneasy. Her life looked the same as it had been on the surface, but underneath, she wasn't too sure about it.

**Beacon Street, Haven City**

Mulch had been there for the past hour, a quiet, stocky figure standing in the corner between two shops. It wasn't unpleasant exactly, despite the heavy pedestrian traffic, but waiting outside a shop for someone who wasn't supposed to see him ceased to be pleasant after the first half hour or so.

One of the doors to the shops in the row opposite swung open, and a single elf stepped out into the street. Her long silver hair was bound into a neat ponytail, which seemed to gleam in the half-light as she hurried towards the junction where Beacon Street intersected with the busier main streets of Haven City.

Mulch detached himself from his corner and shuffled after the elf, as though he was out on a leisurely stroll himself. He glanced behind him as he did so; careful to check that no one he knew was watching his back. The coast was clear – none of the fairies milling about the street seemed to have paid any interest in him whatsoever.

Vinyáya paused before she joined the tide of fairies heading down Tara Road and glanced casually behind her. Mulch came to a halt and pretended to squint at one of the shops. It appeared to be selling costume dresses for elves.

When the dwarf turned back to look for her, the elf had vanished in the crowd of fairies.

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**A/N:** Cendol. Best. Dessert. Ever. You can wiki it for more information!

Hani's name is pronounced the same as 'Honey'. I thought it was funny when I wrote this - she having a name like that when she sells desserts. Sorry about the lame humour!


	4. Chapter 3: Grey Area

Chapter 3: Grey Area

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

Another day at the monitors. Bliss. This was what the centaur was born to do, and nobody was going to stop him from spending his days with his precious computers. They would have to saw his hooves off before they could make him leave. That is, if they weren't fried from his plasma tiles before that, on top of bypassing the security cameras and doodahs he had rigged up on the outside and inside of the booth. Moreover, if any idiot did manage to get through all those, there was always the voice-activated laser to dodge. Call the centaur whatever you liked, but Foaly _knew_ that there were people out there who were out to get him. He had been proven right about Opal Koboi in the past, hadn't he?

'_Born to be wild,' _he hummed under his breath as he started up the system for the day. The night tech boys had limited access to the rest of the system, as Foaly had seen to it that no one – and _no one_, mind you – could get into his system and files without going through the labyrinthine and freakishly complicated security measures he had created. '_I drink my tea with chamomile…_'

The first few news portals in Haven City popped up on the screens. Foaly scrolled through the news reports absently, still humming. Another busy day at the LEP shouting at recon jocks and getting on the other officers' nerves. Bliss.

A message icon appeared in the top corner of the main screen, flagged red. Urgent. Immediate attention. Foaly clicked on it, his humming silent for the moment.

Trouble Kelp's face came into view, a frown on the commander's usually calm face.

'Foaly,' he said, his voice uncharacteristically tight. 'Bit of trouble here.'

'What happened?'

'Murder on Elm Street. Theophilius Merrick. Found dead in his bed five minutes ago. LEP HQ got a call from a member of the staff, one hysterical maid who entered his room and found him dead.'

Foaly's fingers were dancing across the keyboard before Kelp finished his sentence.

'Right…Merrick, Theophilius. I'm bringing up his file here…let's see – rich old bachelor, owns a company dealing in transport, specifically heavy duty vehicles meant for moving goods. Any clues at the scene?'

'Forensics reported that his death took place four minutes before the maid found him, but besides that, they haven't found any clues. Thing is, Foaly…'

'Yes, Commander?'

'He wasn't murdered with a gun. It's just a knife wound. Through the heart too – he never had a chance, the poor gremlin.'

Eh? Foaly dropped into his swivel chair, mystified. Fairies these days preferred murder with more – well – high-tech weapons. Not that there were many murders taking place in Haven City – the gangs didn't go into open murder, preferring to stick to areas where skirmishes frequently broke out and the LEP didn't look too much into it. But if any fairy was to commit a murder right here and now, it would probably involve a gun. And if said murder was to include a certain fairy who was a well-known figure in Haven City, then there would probably be more than a gun involved. And _also_, when you factored in the possibility of said well-known figure being rich enough to employ bodyguards, then you had much more than a gun involved.

Who would be mad enough to attempt a murder with nothing more than a knife? Merrick would have had ample time to press the alarm or whatever security alerts he had installed in his place – so why wasn't there a warning before he was killed? And why did his bodyguards not know what was taking place?

Foaly trawled through the files on Merrick, calling up anything he could find on the fairy. News reports, interviews, press photos – but the fairy was clean.

'Foaly?' Trouble interrupted his thoughts.

'Yes?'

'Can you access the security footage at his place? It's a bit unethical, I know, but…'

_But you can do it, can't you?_ The unspoken question hung in the air, but Foaly needed no further encouragement.

'Coming right up, Commander.' The centaur clicked the appropriate keys, going further into his system. Trust Kelp to know that the LEP's tech wizard might be less than ethical when it came to computers and hacking.

Ah, here it was. The footage: rewind to the scene, enhance, frame by frame…

Foaly's fingers froze above the keyboard, his mouth falling open in shock.

'Did you find it, Foaly?' asked the commander. 'Is there anything?'

'I'm sending the video and stills to you right now, Kelp,' he said, his fingers heavy. 'Coming right up.'

_Beep_. Message successfully received. Trouble Kelp clicked on the file, anticipating a shot of the suspect, or possibly, suspects. Just a few stills, maybe a good close-up, and they would have their fairy. Case closed and then there would be no need to panic.

'D'Arvit,' breathed Trouble.

'D'Arvit indeed,' muttered Foaly, going through the footage and stills for the second time in case he had missed anything.

'There's nothing there, Foaly. Nothing at all. One minute Merrick's asleep in bed, the next he's just…gone. With a wound in his chest.'

'Yep, Commander, I'm seeing it too,' said the centaur grimly.

**Breakhill Road, Haven City**

Holly Short fell out of bed a few minutes after the fairy communicator started beeping. It had been a strange dream that had kept her in Dreamland – there was something about Artemis, and then there had been Root yelling at her, just like old times –

'What's up?' she mumbled, answering the call.

Foaly's worried face flickered on the screen. 'Holly, we have a situation. Can you come to Police Plaza ASAP? Kelp wants to see you right now.'

'Right, right.' She was half-awake as she stumbled to the bathroom to wash her face. Kelp had not once called her this early since her reinstatement – this was an out-of-the-ordinary situation then.

_I'm Recon_, she thought sleepily as she slipped into her uniform._ I'm supposed to expect things to be out of the ordinary._ _It goes with the job, Short._

Civilians crowded Police Plaza today as Holly pushed her way through the mob to the entrance. She was getting déjà vu – hadn't this happened on the same day that she was kidnapped by Artemis? No time to think about it though – Trouble would be waiting for her.

Foaly grabbed her just as she ran past the Ops Booth, pulling her into the room and slamming the door behind them. Commander Kelp was already in the booth, seated at one of the computers watching a video. Two other Recon officers were assembled beside the commander, watching the video with serious looks on their faces.

'Short.' Kelp nodded her over. 'What do you make of this?'

The video was a footage taken from a security camera – that much was clear – played on a continuous loop. She watched the video twice before she registered what had happened.

'But how did he - ?' she gasped, staring at the video of the gremlin peacefully asleep in bed one second, and dead with a wound the next. Four minutes later, a female elf entered the room, took one look at Merrick, and ran out screaming.

'Exactly,' said Trouble.

'Who is this then?' asked Holly. There was something familiar about the old fairy's face, but she couldn't quite place it…

'Theophilius Merrick,' replied Foaly. He clicked a few keys, pausing the video. 'I've run it through any filters I have, split it down shot by shot, enhanced it, broken it down, rebuilt it, checked everything, and…'

'And?' prompted Holly.

'There's nothing wrong with the video. It hasn't been tampered with before I viewed it.'

'How did you get this then? Isn't it on the secure network within the building itself?'

'Eh…' Foaly scratched his chin sheepishly. 'Forensics would be here soon with the evidence, but I thought this was something that couldn't wait. Hacking into the place was easy when Haven's networks are all linked anyway. The only truly secure network would be my system in here, of course.'

'So you're saying that someone tampered with the cameras before the murder was done, Foaly?' said Trouble.

'Could be, Kelp, could be.' The centaur didn't look too happy about it. 'But that would mean that it was an inside job. You'll have to bring in the bodyguards and all the staff in the place for interrogation then.'

'And that's not Recon's job,' Holly pointed out. 'We'll go after the suspects, but not do the actual interrogation, will we?'

'No,' said Trouble, his eyes on the frozen image on the screen. 'But there is something Recon can do.'

'What's that, Commander?'

Commander Kelp glanced at the two officers beside him – one was a major, the other a captain. Both waited silently for their orders, clearly knowing the duties expected of them in this situation.

'I want this to be done quietly, remember,' said Trouble. 'Utmost secrecy. Even the other branches of the LEP shouldn't get wind of it. Contact me immediately if you find what we need and I'll get Retrieval on it.'

The two officers nodded and slipped out of the booth. Holly watched them go, utterly bewildered.

'See, this isn't just the only thing, Holly,' said Trouble as soon as the door shut behind the two officers. 'There's more on the footage of the cameras outside Merrick's place.'

Foaly pointed to the new video that was now playing on another screen. 'What do you make of that?'

A figure could be seen lurking just within the shadows thrown by the wall bordering Merrick's property; seen in the dim light, it appeared to be dressed in drab grey from head to toe. Another figure slipped through the gates – Holly noticed that there was a gap there that would be mostly hidden due to the angle the cameras were fixed – before running lithely past the wall, keeping to the shadows and out of sight of the cameras. Nothing could be seen for a few brief seconds, during which Holly realized that she had forgotten to breathe. And then there was –

There was a flash of red, like a shot released from a Neutrino. _The lowest setting_, Holly noted in wonder, having worked with Neutrinos on numerous occasions. Then there was movement behind a pillar, which unfortunately blocked the view from the cameras.

A small body was pushed from behind the pillar, right into the camera's line of sight, with the fairy's hands and feet bound. Whoever had tied him or her up clearly wanted the cameras to record everything that had happened, leaving no doubt of the evidence. Then the grey-clad figure could be seen passing the wall again, in one flash, and it was gone, beyond the field of the external cameras.

'Did you find the body?' she demanded, as Foaly rewound the video.

'LEP Investigations did,' the commander replied quietly. 'The shot didn't kill him, just knocked him out. But there was no evidence on him.'

'No blood? No knife? Nothing?'

'It seems that he was just a staff in Merrick's household, nothing out of the ordinary.'

'But he slipped through the gates, like he was trying to get away from something…' Holly's sentence trailed off into silence as the commander shook his head slowly.

'He said he remembered nothing from the murder; said he didn't even know there had been one, in fact. Retimager didn't turn up any results, he hasn't been mesmerized and nobody did a mind-wipe on him. The investigators asked him about his strange behavior leaving Merrick's place, but he said he was just sneaking off on his shift to meet some friend elsewhere. He's still under investigation, but he'll probably be let off soon – there's no evidence against him.' Trouble rubbed his temples, sighing.

'So who was the other person then? Did he commit the murder?'

'I ran the footage through any filters I've got,' said Foaly, shrugging. 'The fairy was shielded when he came to the gate fifteen minutes before the murder took place, and then he unshielded a few minutes after. Whoever it was, he didn't enter the place.'

'But he could have been stationed there to frame the one who left Merrick's place, couldn't he?' asked Holly.

'It's not likely, Holly.' Foaly gestured to the other screens in the room; reports and timelines displayed the evidence and sequence of events. 'There's no evidence on the kid we found.'

'So there are two people in Haven with knowledge of the murder,' said Holly. 'One who was responsible for it, and one who tried to stop it – or tried to catch the culprit and hand him over to the LEP. But the one who knew about it caught the wrong person, so the one who _did_ do it is walking free right now, but probably in hiding in case the other catches up.' A thought struck her. 'Hold on.'

'Yes?' asked Trouble.

'Did anyone leave the place after that?'

'Nope,' said Foaly. 'I've been keeping my eye on the footage from the cameras from the time the murder was committed up to this very second. No one left the place besides the kid we got in custody – whoever who tries to leave it would have to get past the LEP; they turned up almost immediately after the call was made.'

'So it might be one of the staff who murdered Merrick. But why?'

'That's right,' said Foaly. 'And we don't know why. So, Commander, who do we go after first?'

**Diggums and Day PI firm, Haven City**

'So you want us to go after a murderer,' said Mulch, his face solemn.

The pixie Doodah Day shook his head in disbelief beside him.

'I'll be working with you guys too,' Holly said, sighing. 'Commander's orders.'

'Why can't you LEP people handle your own business and not come to us?' said the dwarf, frowning. 'We're just PIs, hardly professionals, according to you officers.'

'It's not only the murderer we're after, Mulch,' said Holly patiently. 'We need to find the other one too – the fairy who mistakenly thought he or she caught the murderer.'

'So who're we after again?' said Doodah.

'The one who tried to catch the murderer. And the murderer too, if we can.'

'Why do we need all this secrecy?' Mulch asked. 'It's not like the rest of the LEP involved in this wouldn't have seen the clips you just showed us.'

'Commander Kelp thinks it's best if we don't go about this too openly. The public would expect us to go after the murderer, naturally, but they don't need to know about the other person. And too much publicity would probably scare this mysterious vigilante into hiding. So it'll all be kept hushed up.'

'Hmmm.' The dwarf tugged at his beard thoughtfully. There was something wrong about this; his reliable old instincts were telling him the same thing. _Trust the hair, Mulch. It's telling you that this might be one of the stupidest things you would ever do since the firm started. It might even be the last stupid thing you would ever do._

'How much?' he said finally.

'What?' Holly stared at him, taken aback.

'How much would we get for our consultation fees?'

'Once a dwarf, always a dwarf.' She shook her head and smiled. 'I'll ask the commander about it when I see him next.'

'You do that, mind.' Mulch got up from his seat, raising an eyebrow at Doodah. 'Well come on, partner, what are you waiting for? We have a murderer to hunt, and a mysterious vigilante as well.'

'Oh boy,' muttered Doodah, following Mulch out the door. Exorbitant consultation fees or not, there were some things that he really wished he didn't have to risk his life for.

Holly trooped after the dwarf and pixie into Haven City, her hand straying to the Neutrino in its holster. She was back in Recon again, all right.

* * *

**A/N:** Two chapters! I'm a bit pressed for time as we head towards the new year, so updates may be erratic. I wrote the earlier chapters some time ago, so if there's anything you think that needs to be edited, please don't hesitate to tell me - I'd be happy to correct it :)


	5. Chapter 4: The Hunt Starts Here

Many, many thanks to those who reviewed and put this story on your lists - I really appreciate it! =D

* * *

Chapter 4: The Hunt Starts Here

**Fowl Manor, Dublin, Ireland**

Artemis Fowl lay in bed, staring up into the darkness above. He could hear laughter from his brothers' room down the passage; the twins were restless tonight and the nanny would have her work cut out for her trying to get them to sleep. He thought he could hear his mother's voice, persuading either Beckett or Myles to get into bed and go sleepy-bye. There was a soft tread outside his door, muffled by the carpet, but he knew it would be Butler on his last round of the Manor before the manservant retired for the night. His father would be in the bedroom, resting his leg after a long day.

Holly hadn't called him yet, but the teenager wasn't too worried about it. She was busy these days with her LEPrecon duties, and more likely than not, she was probably out on some mission and wouldn't be back before morning. There was another call he would have to make in the morning, one involving a certain French girl. Minerva Paradizo was currently holidaying in Brazil with some of her extended family, but she and Artemis had struck up a habit of calling each other up wherever they were. She had mentioned something about visiting him in Ireland in her last call; he rather wondered what she meant by that – didn't they speak to each other through the phone almost every day?

The boy drifted off to sleep, lulled by the familiar sounds of his family in the Manor.

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

Well it was worth a try.

Foaly logged into the LEP records, checking the list of shots fired and equipment used during the past hour or so. He had worked to discontinue the Neutrino 3000s after the unfortunate incident when Holly was blamed for Root's death; the Council had taken the shot she fired to save the late commander as hard evidence that she was guilty. But a few of the guns still remained, and what with LEP bureaucracy and all, the 3000s stayed in use by field operatives.

Hmm. He checked the list again, sighing. There was nothing.

Who said it was going to be that easy anyway? Whoever had released that shot at Merrick's place knew LEP procedures and had taken care not to use a weapon that would register on the records. The thought disturbed the centaur as much as the murder itself.

**Fowl Manor, Ireland**

Artemis woke abruptly to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

'Quiet, Fowl,' a voice spoke in his ear. It sounded elfin.

_Holly?_

'Now sit up and put your hands behind your head,' the voice continued.

_It's not Holly_.

The boy did as he was told, staring straight ahead into the dark room. The fairy was out of his sight, standing somewhere behind his right ear. The gun stayed steady against his temple.

'I want you to stay absolutely still – this will take only a few minutes.'

'What have you done to my family?' he said evenly.

'They're asleep, but they might not be if you disobey orders, you understand?'

Artemis stayed silent.

'Now speak into this.' A small oblong was thrust in front of his mouth, held by a hand that clearly belonged to a fairy.

'What should I say?'

'Repeat after me: 'I will offer gold and protection in exchange for control of the Lower Elements Police. Trust me on this; my plans have not gone wrong yet. Am I not friends with the officers themselves? Captain Short, Foaly and even Commander Kelp have absolute faith in me and they won't suspect a thing; I have, after all, saved their skins on several occasions in the past. Do we have a deal?''

Artemis couldn't speak; his throat had gone bone dry.

'Speak, Fowl.' The gun was pressed harder against his temple. 'Or your family gets it.'

The boy spoke. He didn't have a choice.

**Haven City, The Lower Elements**

Holly was annoyed.

Mulch and Doodah kept bickering even as they skulked round the city looking for the murderer and the supposed vigilante. _And they have a point_, she thought gloomily as she waited for them to nip into a convenience store for snacks, _we don't even know what we're looking for. It's not like we can stop people randomly and ask: Excuse me, sir, have you recently committed a murder with a knife? Or did you have any prior knowledge of it?_

They were at a dead end. Try telling Trouble that, Short.

'You don't have to look so conspicuous, you know,' Mulch remarked as the trio headed down the street.

'What?' snapped Holly.

'You're in civilian clothes but you just stick out like a sore dwarf thumb,' explained Doodah, his eyes big with innocence.

Even with the Neutrino hidden under a handily large jacket, Holly thought she knew what the pixie meant. Probably it was because she kept staring at passing fairies with suspicious eyes.

'Do you have any idea where to go next?' she said instead, changing the subject.

'Not really.' Mulch slurped down a chilled slug jelly and made a face. 'We need more clues.'

'You don't think we can do much now,' she said, scowling.

'Facts is facts, Holly. We don't have much to work with.'

And the dwarf was right, irritatingly enough.

'I'll go back to Police Plaza then, see if they have any new leads,' she spoke in an undertone to Mulch and Doodah. 'Foaly hasn't called – but who knows?'

The pair nodded and watched as the elf sprinted down the street back to the LEP HQ.

'And they call themselves professionals,' said Doodah, shaking his head.

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

Foaly listened to the voice recording for the third time, his expression blank.

So many things had happened today – and now this. _This_ was the caramelized beetle on top of the carrot cake.

'Foaly.' Holly burst into the Ops Booth, dragging the jacket off her slim frame. 'Do you have any new leads?'

'Only this,' he said quietly.

She came to a stop beside the centaur, stunned.

The recording played a familiar voice for the fourth time, a voice that she had come to know from many conversations with the speaker. And it was saying something that she had thought she would never hear.

'_I will offer gold and protection in exchange for control of the Lower Elements Police. Trust me on __this; my plans have not gone wrong yet. Am I not friends with the officers themselves? Captain Short, Foaly and even Commander Kelp have absolute faith in me and they won't suspect a thing; I have, after all, saved their skins on several occasions in the past. Do we have a deal?'_

'That's Artemis,' she said jerkily.

The centaur nodded. There wasn't anything for him to say.

'How did you get this?'

'The call was made from his mobile phone to a fairy phone registered to one Myra Magnet.'

'And who is that?'

'A ten-year-old pixie who lost her phone a month ago. Her parents claim that they've asked for the number to be blocked, but it seems that someone has overridden the block.'

'D'Arvit.' Holly sank into the chair that Kelp had occupied earlier. 'Have you tried contacting Artemis?'

Foaly gave her a cool glance. 'And why would I do that? He's a prime suspect now, especially after Merrick's murder.'

'But there's no connection that he's involved in it,' the elf argued.

'So you're saying that it's just a coincidence, Holly?'

'It's too convenient to put the blame on him; it's what I'm saying.'

Foaly sighed and gazed at her with a stricken expression on his face. 'I know he's your friend, Holly...but at this time, we really don't know what to look for. He could be involved. Or not. We don't know.'

She looked away, biting her lip. 'Have you told Kelp yet?'

'He's coming over as soon as the Council meeting's over.'

'I'll wait.' She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. She'll wait for Trouble's orders, even though she felt like flying above ground right now to demand an explanation from Artemis. _He can't have meant that – he's our friend! I trusted him for so long!_

'Holly.' Foaly placed a hand on her shoulder. 'I know you don't like what you just heard, and neither do I, but we have our job to do. And our job now is to find Merrick's murderer and clear up this mystery as soon as we can.'

'Who said I'm worried about Artemis?' she muttered, meeting Foaly's eyes defiantly.

**Oak Avenue, Haven City**

There was a moment of silence after the shot was fired.

And then all hell broke loose.

The goblins began throwing fireballs at a group of dwarfs who happened to be crossing the street at that moment. The dwarfs scattered immediately, though a few fireballs found their mark. Various fairies who were in the vicinity scrambled to get out of the way; panic and screams filled the air. Oak Avenue was a busy thoroughfare on the best of days, and today being a Saturday, there were many fairies out shopping with their families.

A figure in grey watched the scene unfold as he or she stood hidden in a doorway.

The dwarf in the LEP uniform – the one who had shot the goblin – had vanished in the chaos.

* * *

**A/N:** Minerva isn't in the story much, I'm afraid. So I - er - sent her on a holiday to Brazil.

Constructive criticism will be very much appreciated!


	6. Chapter 5: Pill

I've been so bad - my darlingest Beta, if you're reading this, I NEEDS TO THANK YOU =D For teh encouragement and teh patience. But I no can has cendol, dang.

And to you guys who are still reading this - thank you!

* * *

Chapter 5: Pill

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

Things had worsened within the space of a few hours. First there was Merrick's mysterious murder, then the shooting of a goblin on Oak Avenue by an LEP officer…and then this.

Holly and a few other officers were assembled before various computer screens, eyes fixed on the scene unfolding on Oak Avenue. The goblins had swiftly called their gangs after the shooting; the dwarfs had called theirs. Officers – mostly from LEPtraffic – patrolled the area, wary of any sudden fights breaking out between the gangs. LEP medics had taken the injured goblin away half an hour ago, but neither the dwarfs nor the goblins seemed in any way to be leaving.

At present, goblins were shouting indignantly as they milled about one end of the street, while the dwarfs stayed at the other end, watching and waiting for the right moment to strike. Another factor that made the situation worse was that the goblin-dwarf turf wars had broken out about a month ago – tensions were running high between both families; a shooting would be more than enough to spark a major fight.

And yet another mystery had popped up: Foaly couldn't identify the LEP dwarf who had shot the goblin. There were no records, no identification. It could have been an imposter or a rogue LEP operative. There were already too many mysteries for one day.

'You know, I'd hate to say this right now, but that looks familiar,' said Foaly, speaking softly in Holly's ear as she sat watching the events on Oak Avenue.

She turned to look at him, frowning. 'The B'wa Kell rebellion?'

'Just before that – remember how the gangs made one hell of a ruckus in Haven before they had the full-blown rebellion?'

'Is Opal still in her cell?'

'In Atlantis? Yep, secure, not a peep. I'm getting hourly updates from there as we speak.'

'Do we have anything on the other Opal?'

'Unfortunately, no,' replied Foaly glumly. 'It's been a month and we haven't got anything on her. And believe me, we're still not done looking for her in the most unlikely places.'

The scene on the screens exploded into orange and red as goblins lobbed fireballs down the street, breaking shop windows in the process. Figures in LEP uniforms could be glimpsed among the flames and scaly goblin bodies, dispersing the crowd as several others hosed down the burning buildings.

'Foaly,' a voice crackled through the speakers, 'we need back up. Can you send the Retrieval boys over?'

'Roger that,' the centaur replied. 'I'll inform Commander Kelp.'

'Where _is_ Commander Kelp?' asked one Recon officer.

'Council meeting,' said Foaly, calling up the Retrieval squads.

Holly dragged her eyes back to the screens, reluctant to know what would happen next, but unable to stop herself from watching.

The dwarfs had waited enough – she watched, transfixed, as the gangs met midway along Oak Avenue. Fireballs and various mining equipment – trust the dwarfs to bring along their pickaxes and mining tools – clashed and clanged in the fray. Officers pushed their way through the fight, but the dwarfs and goblins soon outnumbered them; the Retrieval boys had better get there soon before the situation got out of hand.

'What's this I hear about a fight?' Commander Kelp strode into the Ops Booth, his face flushed as though he had run all the way from the Council meeting room.

'I've sent Retrieval over for back up. It doesn't look good, Kelp.' Foaly rubbed his chin wearily. 'What are the odds of a murder and a shooting in one day?'

'And what was that message about – the one about Artemis Fowl?' Trouble demanded as he stepped closer to the screens for a better look.

'I think we should send Holly to talk to him,' said Foaly, glancing at the elf beside him.

Trouble caught the glance Foaly had given his captain. 'It could be a trap, Foaly. I'm sending a few other Recon officers with her.'

'No.' Holly stood up hesitantly, her face pale. 'I'll go alone.'

'That's a direct order I gave, and you'd better not disobey it, Captain Short.'

'Please, Trouble.' Her words were steady, but her eyes were pleading. 'Artemis might be in trouble himself.'

'I really don't know why we give him the benefit of the doubt again and again.' The commander sighed and nodded. 'Go now, but I want you to be in constant contact with us, you hear me?'

'Yessir.'

She was sprinting out of the booth before Foaly even had time to speak his mind.

**Fowl Manor**

It all seemed so normal in the morning.

Artemis sat in his bedroom, his ears strained to catch any sounds that might drift through the locked door. His family was up by now – it was ten o'clock, after all – but he couldn't bring himself to meet them. The incident the night before had shaken him somewhat, and he was at a loss to explain it to his parents or even Butler.

How was he to explain to them that they had been so close to being murdered in their beds by hostile fairies?

And then there was the matter of the bump under the skin on his forearm. It had not been there the day before – there was a fresh cut on it, as Artemis discovered after examining it. It could be nothing; it could be something. Like bombs or trackers, for example. There was no knowing what new technology had been invented during his absence for three years.

He couldn't call Holly because…well, the fairy phone was missing. Whoever had threatened him in the night knew enough to take it along when he left.

'Arty?' His mother knocked at the door, sounding concerned. 'Are you awake?'

He took a deep breath before replying, 'Can I sleep in for another hour, Mum?'

'Are you all right?'

'I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired, that's all,' he said.

He heard his mother walk away with a lump in his throat.

_Think, Artemis. How do you get out of here and tell them without putting their lives in danger?_

His eyes fell on the sheets of paper he had left on his desk before going to bed last night.

_It's worth a try._

There were three loud taps at the window.

* * *

Holly flew closer to the window, watching the boy in the room through her helmet's visor.

'Careful, Holly,' said Foaly in her ear. 'We don't know what Artemis is planning.'

'I'm going in,' she said, raising her fist to knock on the glass.

'Holly.'

She ignored the centaur, rapping her knuckles on the window instead.

Artemis looked up, suspicion replacing the anxiety on his face. She watched in growing surprise as he scribbled something on a sheet of paper and held it up in her direction.

'_UNSHIELD, FAIRY.'_

She shimmered into visibility, hoping that no Mud Man was watching this particular window.

'Holly!' barked Foaly, right in her ear. 'What in Frond's name do you think you're doing?'

Artemis had hurried over and opened the window. She flew in, dropping to the ground at once. The boy held a finger to his lips, indicating that she should stay silent.

She pressed the button on her helmet to release the seals before taking it off. Artemis stared back at her, his eyes wide with unspoken fear.

_I haven't seen him look this scared before_, she thought, disturbed.

'What – ' she began, forgetting that he had asked her to be quiet.

Artemis clapped a hand over her mouth and jerked his head in the direction of the bedroom door. She nodded and gently took his hand away. He went to his desk and started scribbling again.

'_HOSTILE FAIRY LAST NIGHT. THREATENED FAMILY. MADE ME SPEAK A PREPARED MESSAGE. NO TRACE THIS MORNING.'_

She read the words on the paper and looked up to meet his searching gaze.

'I know about the message,' she mouthed in reply.

He nodded and scribbled some more. '_THERE'S SOMETHING PLANTED UNDER MY SKIN. FOREARM.' _He held out his left arm and gingerly touched a fingertip to the bump in his pale skin.

She held up one finger. _One minute._ She replaced the helmet on her head, scrolling through the options for X-ray. Foaly had upgraded the LEP helmets a year ago to include X-ray in the vision filters.

'Holly.' It was Trouble. 'What are you doing?'

'Artemis needs our help, Commander. There was a hostile party last night who threatened to harm his family and planted something under his skin. He wants me to help him get it out.'

'What about the call he made?'

'They made him speak a prepared message – he had to do it or they would harm his family.'

'Holly.' Foaly this time. 'Are you sure this isn't a trap?'

'I trust Artemis, Foaly,' she said, selecting the X-ray option. The helmet scanned the spot Artemis had indicated on his skin and displayed the result on her visor.

It appeared to be a tracker, resembling those that had been created during her time away in Limbo. It was the size of a small pill and completely undetectable when swallowed; once it was within a body, the outer casing would dissolve as a normal pill would and allow the nano tracker to navigate the bloodstream unharmed. The one on Artemis's arm had been inserted just below the epidermis, causing a visible bump.

'What do you make of this?' she asked, sending the file over to Foaly.

There was a pause on the other end. 'That's a nano tracker. With sound capability.' Foaly cleared his throat, not liking the next thing he had to say. 'I filed a patent for it last month. LEP doesn't even have it yet because the Council couldn't agree on it.'

'So you're saying that this tracker can pick up sound too?' said Holly incredulously.

'Yes. Brilliant, isn't it?' The centaur didn't sound too smug about this like he would on other occasions.

'I'm going to get it out, and then destroy the damn thing.' Holly raised the visor of her helmet after turning off the helmet's speakers. Artemis's arm was still extended toward her.

'Tracker,' she mouthed to the teenager. 'Picks up sound.'

Artemis's eyes went wide for a moment before he remembered that he needed to find a solution to the problem before him. He picked up his pen again and wrote down what he needed to say.

'_I NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE A CUT.'_

Holly shook her head, thinking. They couldn't leave the room, not now, while the tracker remained in Artemis's arm. They needed something with a sharp edge, just to break the skin, and then she could take the pill out…

Artemis pulled open a desk drawer and took out a penknife. She raised her eyebrows at him and held out her hand. He slid one of the blades of the Swiss Army knife out of its groove and handed the knife to her.

Holly placed the knife's edge against the bump in the skin, waiting for Artemis's signal to begin. He nodded once.

There. A clean cut. The pill lay within the skin as blood welled up around it, a small blue circle. Holly maneuvered the tip of the knife within the cut, levering the pill out as carefully as possible without breaking more skin than was necessary. Artemis handed her a sheet of paper to drop the bloodied pill onto it.

'Now stand back,' she said silently, placing the sheet on the floor. The teenager backed away as the elf took out the Neutrino from its holster on her hip. Holly manipulated the settings with her thumb; the lowest setting should be enough to destroy the pill and the tracker it contained.

The pill glowed red for a moment before falling to ashes under the concentrated beam of the Neutrino. The beam had also, most unfortunately, burnt a hole through the paper and ignited a minuscule bit of the carpet beneath.

'We might have to hide that,' Artemis remarked wryly, pointing to the hole in the carpet.

'Come here,' said Holly, taking his arm and placing her fingers over the cut. _Heal._ Blue sparks of magic scurried down her fingertips and buried themselves in the cut, sealing it and healing the skin within seconds.

'Thank you.' He grinned at her, relief washing over him. 'I was afraid you thought I was guilty.'

'I didn't say you're innocent.' She had not returned the Neutrino to its holster. 'I need to ask you a few questions, Artemis.'

The grin slid off the boy's face as quickly as it had appeared. 'What is it, Holly?'

She switched on her helmet's speakers and turned her back on Artemis. 'Foaly. He says he's innocent.'

'We've been through this before.' She heard a few clicks in the background, and someone speaking nearby. 'Does he have an alibi?'

'I lost the fairy phone you gave me, Holly,' said Artemis, coming to stand before her. 'I lost it last night.'

'It's not sufficient proof that you're innocent,' she retorted.

'What happened?' said Artemis. 'What's happening in Haven?'

'A murder, a shooting and gangs fighting in the streets.' Artemis's mouth opened to speak, but she cut him off. 'Does that sound familiar to you?'

'Are you saying that Opal Koboi's back?' he said.

'We don't know. And we don't know if you're involved this time, Artemis.'

'I fought with her to save my mother,' said Artemis, his voice rising with every syllable. 'Opal is the last person I would work with for anything. I thought you knew me better, Holly.'

'I know, I know.' She dropped her face into her hands, tired out with the events that had taken place earlier. 'But you lied to me before, Artemis.'

'You forgave me, didn't you?'

'I want to, but you lied to me.' _And I don't know whether I can trust you this time. _

Artemis's blue and hazel eyes – fearful and relieved minutes earlier – had gone blank. 'I did it to save my mother.'

'This isn't about your mother anymore, Artemis.'

'I would _never_ betray the fairies and you know that, Holly. Why do you insist on doubting me?'

'Artemis, would you betray us if it meant that someone else would not harm your family?'

They held each other's gaze for several long moments, both unable to speak.

'I don't know the answer to that,' the boy finally said.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm trying to update regularly - whoop, hope I can get this done in time. Truth be told, I've written most of this long fic. Just needs to be edited...so if you have any constructive criticism, don't hesitate to tell me and I'll get my Inner Editor to make the necessary changes :)


	7. Chapter 6: The Law of Murphy

You guys - thank you so much for your reviews and thoughts! I really appreciate them! =D But Colfer I'm definitely not, heh.

Many thanks to the Beta, for your infinite patience and general wonderfulness. We should really go out for cendol yeah?

And finally, because I missed this in some chapters -

**Disclaimer**: Characters, settings and anything related to the Artemis Fowl series mentioned in previous (and subsequent) chapters all belong to Eoin Colfer; I own nothing.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Law of Murphy

**Police Plaza, Haven City**

Murphy's Law states that "Anything that can go wrong – will, at the worst possible moment". The dwarfs have a similar saying of their own, which, to fairies and humans unfamiliar to dwarfish lingo, loosely translates as "When there is a sticky situation with the bum flap, beware the imminent explosion – it might be the one your mates will talk about for a long time after and make jokes about". But that's the polite version of the saying, and dwarfs don't like to talk about it anyway.

With the situation as it was in Haven, events could only proceed according to Murphy's Law. Which they did.

Foaly was, at the best of times, a pretty level-headed centaur. How could he not be? With his superior intellect and vast knowledge – not to mention his precious computers and programs – there was nothing much that could slip past him.

But there were times, such as this, which made the centaur really, _really_ certain that there were People Who Are Out to Get Him.

The first indication that Murphy's Law had also influenced the fortunes of a certain centaur was when Commander Kelp called said centaur to his office.

The second indication was when Foaly tried to make a joke, and was duly met with a rebuke from the commander, who further mentioned something about a "massive budget cut for a donkey's playthings".

The third indication was when Foaly stepped into the Recon commander's office and was met with an expression on Trouble's face that was disturbingly reminiscent of Root's. It was an expression that often appeared on the late commander's very bad days, when someone within the commander's vicinity was certain to be sad in a short space of time.

The fourth indication was when Trouble Kelp told Foaly to shut the door and then demanded an explanation for the tracker that had been found in Artemis's arm.

Foaly could only stare in shock at Trouble Kelp's livid expression.

'Are you accusing me of planting that tracker?' said Foaly hoarsely.

'I didn't say so, Foaly.' The commander's face had gone a familiar red. 'But I want to know how that tracker got into Fowl's arm.'

'He could have – '

'He could have what, Foaly?' Trouble sighed, the unnatural flush fading from his face. 'As far as I know, and you said so yourself, the only people who have the tracker are you and the Council.'

'I made a few prototypes, yes, but I didn't release it elsewhere. So ­– _yes – _the only people who could possibly have the trackers would be me. And the Council members.'

'I don't see how Fowl could have stolen the tracker without us knowing,' said Trouble.

'Wait – you think he might have stolen it? From me?'

'It's one possibility, Foaly.'

'And why would he do that?' said Foaly, confused for once.

'You're the genius here, centaur,' snapped Trouble. 'He could have planted the tracker in his own arm to mislead us. That message still looks suspicious to me, and I'm not going to give him my complete trust until he gives me a good reason why I should believe him.'

'But he's been helping us…'

'Well forgive me for saying this – but Fowl isn't what you would call a straight and honest character, is he?'

And therein lay the problem. Artemis's history with the fairies had been, at best, varied. The first time they had met him, he had only been a boy of twelve – but he had been capable of kidnapping and extortion, not to mention actual bodily harm to LEP officers through Butler's intervention. Then there had been the time when he had nearly betrayed the fairies with the C Cube…

'So we're both guilty then?' The question burst out in a bray of laughter; the idea was too much to contemplate, even by the centaur's standards.

'Well, are you?' said Trouble calmly.

'By Frond, I swear I have nothing to do with that tracker in Artemis's arm!' cried Foaly.

Trouble didn't say anything for a few minutes. Foaly shifted from hoof to hoof uneasily, wondering if, like everything that had happened today, the manure would finally hit the air circulator.

'I want Fowl to be brought here,' said the commander, breaking the tensed silence. 'I need to find out more about that tracker. And the so-called hostile fairies that he mentioned.'

'You're letting me off the hook then, Kelp?' said Foaly, wondering if he was pushing his luck this time.

'No.' Trouble scowled; the flush was returning to his face. 'I happen to trust you more than the Mud Boy.'

**Fowl Manor**

'If you're innocent, like you say you are, Artemis, then you'll have to co-operate with us on this,' said Holly, ending the call with the commander.

'I will.' Artemis's tone was neutral, emotionless.

'The Retrieval boys will be waiting for us at Tara at sundown. You'll be escorted to Haven to meet the commander. He'll ask you a few questions and determine if you are innocent or guilty.' Her tone matched his: formal, stiff.

'I see.'

'Artemis,' she burst out, unable to hold in her thoughts any longer, 'tell me why you're doing this. Don't I have a right to know?'

'I have given you nothing but the truth, Holly,' he said softly.

'I – well – this is harder than I thought.'

'It doesn't have to be, does it?' said Artemis.

Holly watched as the teenager paced about the room, deep in thought. _That's right; use that big brain of yours to get us out of this mess. Convince me, Artemis._

'I can't tell my family about this,' he said to the wall.

She stared at his back. 'Why not? You could at least put them on their guard. Warn Butler about it.'

'The fairies were not after them,' he said, turning to look at her. 'They were only after me.'

Holly rolled her eyes at this statement. 'Is this the time for it, Artemis? Playing the hero now?'

'I am only stating the obvious, Holly.' There was a hint of sarcasm to his tone that had not been present for a while.

'Then tell me about it,' she said.

'What I think is this – first, let us assume that I am innocent in this matter, shall we?' He held his hands open to her, palms up. _Call this a truce_, his gesture seemed to say. It might have also meant: _Forgive me if I anger you further_.

Holly nodded, waiting for him to continue.

'Based on the events that you told me are happening in Haven at this moment, I might make a guess that someone is out to undermine LEP and its authority,' said Artemis. 'The murder might not seem point to that, but whoever was responsible for it knew enough to cover any clues that might have been left at the scene. One question: did anyone check the cameras before leaving Merrick's property?'

Holly's eyes widened as the realization hit her. 'Are you saying…?'

'Foaly viewed the security footage from the Ops Booth, didn't he? He broadcast a loop on the security cameras in Fowl Manor during the siege years ago and nearly deceived me.' The ghost of a smile crept on to the boy's face.

Holly put on her helmet again, calling up Foaly in Haven. The centaur answered on the second ring, sounding somewhat out of breath.

'What did he do to you?' Foaly demanded as soon as he picked up the call. 'I'll personally wring his neck if he so much as –'

'Foaly, did anyone check the cameras at Merrick's place before they left?'

'_What?_'

'Artemis thinks that there _might_ be a chance that you viewed the wrong footage. Something about a loop being broadcast.'

'D'Arvit!' yelped Foaly.

'Look – just send some officers over to check, okay? Do it now, Foaly,' said Holly.

'I'm not taking orders from you, Captain Short. But I will send these officers over right away.'

Holly was about to take off the helmet again – despite the climate control in the helmet and LEP protocol, Holly being Holly, she took the opportunity to leave the helmet off whenever she was above ground – when there was the beep of an incoming call. Trouble's voice was even as he relayed the latest news from Haven to her, but she detected the unease beneath the commander's apparent calm.

'The goblins have surrounded the dwarf tunnels, Holly, and they're saying that they're not going to move until the culprit who shot one of theirs is found. The dwarfs, on the other hand, demand that the LEP show proof that none of their gangs were involved in the unprovoked shooting, and that the officer responsible makes a public apology to the dwarf community.'

'Can't LEP do anything about it?' she said. 'Call for back ups…'

'The Council doesn't see the need for any immediate action,' said Trouble. He sighed and continued, 'Vinyáya's trying to get them to solve this problem at once, but they're voting against her suggestions.'

'Bureaucratic red tape again?' said Holly, shaking her head.

'Probably. Now, Captain, I want your report on how the Fowl character is doing.'

The Fowl character in question smirked and walked away from the elf.

'He's been co-operative so far, and he's currently giving his ideas on the events in Haven.' She stopped, wondering if she dared say the next thing on her mind. 'Commander. Trouble. He could help us solve this.'

'I don't trust him enough, Holly. And neither do you,' said Trouble.

'Yes, but – well, if you remember how he helped us beat the goblins during the rebellion – '

'Holly, we've got a murdered gremlin; we're being blamed for shooting at a goblin; both the goblins and dwarfs are at each other's throats right now and it might just break out into more fights with innocent civilians involved – so can you put your personal feelings for Fowl aside at the moment and focus on the problems that we _have to solve here and now_?'

She swallowed the retort that had risen to her lips and listened as Trouble continued talking. Artemis sat on the edge of his bed across the room, his eyes on the elf as she nodded and listened to the speaker on the other end of the line without responding.

_She has a right to know. And so does my family_.

A smile spread across his face, but it was devoid of humor or satisfaction.

_I think I might try to be a hero. How I do surprise myself sometimes_.

* * *

'A field trip?' asked Angeline Fowl, laughing. 'Am I hearing this right, Arty?'

'Yes, Mum,' said Artemis. 'Tara would be perfect for my astronomy observations tonight.'

'Don't kid your mother,' teased Angeline, ruffling his hair fondly. 'Is Butler following?'

'Of course.' Artemis glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye; Butler, standing discreetly near the door of the dining-room, nodded to his charge.

'Can I follow?' Myles asked from across the table.

'No, Myles. We'll be out all night,' Artemis replied. 'Mum will be worried.'

'Can I go, Mummy?' Beckett interrupted, grinning through the food smears on his face. 'I want see the stars!'

'No, darling.' Angeline wiped the stains off his face and turned the spoon in his chubby fist the right way up. 'You should be in bed by then.'

'I'll be leaving about sunset,' said Artemis. 'It would give me ample time to catch a sighting of Venus.'

'Isn't the Internet good enough?' said his father, raising his eyebrows. 'It's not like you to have sudden field trips, Arty.'

'I'll be back in the morning,' the boy assured his parents.

'We'll be going to the beach tomorrow, remember,' said Angeline. 'Be back early, dear.'

'I will, Mother.'

He went up to his room as soon as his family adjourned to his parents' bedroom after lunch. He could hear the twins shrieking with laughter as a tickle fight broke out between them and Artemis Senior. That was his mother's laugh now, rising above the squeals and guffaws.

'Artemis.'

The boy paused at the top of the stairs. Butler stood at the foot, frowning.

'I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it suspicious, but why Tara?' said Butler. 'Are you going on fairy-related business?'

'No, Butler.' He smiled, or at least tried to, but the manservant was not deceived. 'Astronomy observations.'

'I trust you, Artemis.'

'I know.' _More than you should, old friend._

Angeline was waiting before his bedroom door by the time he reached his room. She pulled him into a hug and kissed the top of his head.

'Your door's locked,' she said. 'Is there something you should tell me, Arty?'

'No, Mum,' he said, avoiding her gaze.

'I know about the fairies, Arty. If this has anything to do with them…do what you should, but I want you to take care, do you hear me? If anything should happen to you…'

'Yes, Mum.'

She released him and took hold of his shoulders. 'I'm proud of you. Come back safe, Arty.'

'I promise to be back as soon as I do what needs to be done,' said Artemis.

'Give my regards to your friend,' Angeline whispered in his ear before she walked away.

_If she will listen to me_, thought Artemis, his heart sinking as he unlocked the door.

* * *

Reviews! Your thoughts! Clickety-click!


	8. Chapter 7: Fishier and Fishier

Many, many thanks to you - you who have been reading and reviewing this fic! I have my hands full as it is at the moment, and to get feedback from you guys makes me very happy :)

And to the beta - seriously, I don't know how I would have done this without you. *sniff*

**Disclaimer**: All life, the universe and everything else in the Fowl fandom belongs to Mr. Eoin Colfer; I don't anything.

* * *

Chapter 7: Fishier and Fishier

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

The penny dropped like a dwarf's underpants hurled down a titanium pipe.

Commander Kelp was not happy. Foaly was not happy. And the Council members were not making things easier – they were still unable to come to a decision on how to handle the present crisis.

'Solinium pulse to white out the cameras,' said Foaly hollowly, when the LEP officers he had sent to check the cameras came back with their reports. 'Fake video feed to fool a genius.'

'I've sent some of my officers over to stand guard at Merrick's,' said Trouble. 'And it says in this report here that the weapons detectors installed in every room of the house were still working.'

'Of course,' said Foaly, munching on a carrot gloomily. 'The murderer used a knife to fox the sensors. Clever.'

'I don't like how this is turning out, Foaly,' Trouble said. 'And where is Holly with the Fowl boy?'

**Fowl Manor**

'Is Butler coming along?' asked Holly as Artemis entered the room.

'He'll drive us there,' he said.

'But he's not coming to Haven with us, is he?' she said. 'You're just going for an interrogation – nothing dangerous. Retrieval will be with us until you meet the commander in a secure place. And Butler…'

'I'm not going to risk Butler's life again by asking him to accompany me,' said Artemis. 'The heart attack a while ago has made him somewhat…older. No, I will ask him to stay behind to guard my family. I hope I can make him understand.'

'Good luck with _that_.'

'Do you want anything to eat?'

'I don't think I have the appetite to eat, Artemis,' said the elf. 'Let's just wait here till sunset, shall we?'

**Operations Booth**

'Guess what?' said Foaly.

'Yes?' said Trouble, looking up from the reports his officers had given him.

'The Council got wind of Artemis coming to Haven. And they've agreed.'

'That's something you don't hear every day,' said Trouble, chuckling. 'Remind me to kick their bureaucratic behinds the next time I see them – they've agreed on something we're going to do anyway. Idiots.'

'You won't dare, I know,' said Foaly, grinning. 'You're a _commander_, Kelp.'

'Then I might just have to kick yours.'

That shut the centaur and his smart mouth up.

**Tara, Ireland**

'Where do you plan to set up your equipment, Artemis?' said Butler as the Bentley came to a stop.

Artemis caught the question in the manservant's eyes as he stepped out of the car, but he chose not to comment on it. The next part of his plan required trickery, and knowing Butler, the man would probably resist whatever ploy that Artemis could think of to fool him. The teenager himself felt a pang of remorse as he thought about what would happen next, but the feeling was swiftly repressed as he pretended to scan the place for a suitable spot.

It was Holly's turn. She had been shielded during the ride in the car, sitting on the floor of the Bentley to prevent Butler from noticing a strange shimmer in midair. As soon as Artemis left the vehicle, she shut down her shield and went to talk to Butler.

'Hello, Holly,' said the man, hardly blinking when she appeared out of thin air. This was what he had expected, after all.

'_Everything will be all right, Butler_,' she said, her voice laced with the _mesmer_. Trust Artemis to think up of a plan that would make her feel guilty. Butler didn't deserve to be mesmerized, but it was the quickest way that they could convince him to leave and return to Fowl Manor.

'No,' said Butler, shaking his head slowly.

Holly gritted her teeth, pushing more magic into the _mesmer_, willing the man to submit to her will. This was not the first time that she had encountered resistance from him when using the _mesmer_.

'_Please, Butler. Just go back to the Manor and everything will be okay. Artemis is in good hands_,' she said.

Butler nodded, once, twice. She didn't know if he had finally given in to the magic, or he was saying yes of his own free will. Either way, it was essential that she and Artemis meet the Retrieval team in the Tara terminal before sundown; Commander Kelp would not take too kindly to the delay.

'I promise to bring Artemis back safely,' she whispered in her usual voice, resting a hand briefly on Butler's shoulder. 'See you soon.'

And then she was out of the car and Artemis was closing the door behind her. Butler started up the Bentley and moved off in the last light of the day.

**Operations Booth**

'Council member Ariya's missing!' yelled a techie as he dashed into the booth. 'Foaly! Cahartez wants you to check if her signal's anywhere near here or in Atlantis!'

Foaly caught the excited pixie before the techie ran headlong into the plasma screens. 'What signal?' he demanded.

The pixie shook himself, coming to his senses. 'Phone signal.'

'Wasn't she at the meeting, Kelp?' said Foaly out of the corner of his mouth as he logged into the phone records of the Lower Elements Police.

'She couldn't make it, said she had to meet the Atlantean ambassador,' said Trouble. 'We didn't think there was anything wrong at the time.'

'I can't get her phone signal,' said Foaly. 'Any other devices I can track?'

'Try her handheld computer.'

'Let's see…nope, no go.' Foaly got up from his swivel chair and headed to the door, much to the commander's surprise.

'And where are you going, Foaly?'

'I need to tell Caballine I'll be late,' the centaur called as he left the booth.

**E1 Chute, Tara**

'_Councilwoman Ariya has been found dead in her office along Mackerel Road_,' said the reporter.

Artemis glanced at Holly across the shuttle. All other eyes in the shuttle were on the TV screen, watching as reporters from news stations in Haven gave their opinions and updates on the latest murder.

'That's political murder, that is,' said one of the Retrieval officers. 'I bet you a can of beetle juice that there's something going on.'

'A conspiracy, you mean?' said Artemis, smirking.

The Retrieval officer gave him a look of distrust and turned his face away. 'Smart arse, isn't he?' he said to his colleague.

Holly shook her head and held a finger to her lips. _Quiet, Artemis_.

Artemis took the hint. This wasn't the right time for smart comments, and there were fairies who would only be too glad to show him how to shut up.

* * *

**A/N:** Chapter title is from Alice's famous phrase: "Curiouser and curiouser." With a story title like that, methinks references to Carroll's books would be almost inevitable.

Pretty short chapter, isn't it? And I didn't realise how much I split the narrative until I read it again weeks later...

As always - reviews would be yummy!


	9. Chapter 8: Verdict

*grin* Thank you for the reviews! They make me very happy indeed!

To the beta, for her unceasing patience and support - may a lionhead rabbit fall into your lap someday.

**Disclaimer**: Colfer owns this universe.

* * *

Chapter 8: Verdict

**Police Plaza, Haven City**

'Okay Fowl, talk quickly and let's get this over with.' Trouble Kelp nodded at the boy sitting across the table from him.

Artemis gazed back calmly. They were in the interrogation room he had previously been taken to years ago when the LEP had suspected him for trading with the fairies, just before the B'wa Kell rebellion had broken out. Nothing much had changed since then, except that his hands were not shackled to the chair this time. Evidently the People had more trust in him now than they had back then.

But maybe this trust might not last longer – he would have to be careful. After Holly's question earlier that day, there were some things that Artemis knew he had to avoid touching upon or he would risk arousing suspicion further.

'Ask away, Commander,' said Artemis.

'You do know that one of the Council has been found murdered?' said Trouble. There was no trace of suspicion in his face, but then again, he wasn't Root. Root would have been purple in the face, not to mention completely distrustful of his least favourite Mud Boy.

'I am aware of that,' Artemis said, clasping his hands on the table. 'I wasn't involved in it.'

'Are you working with those who committed the murder then?' Holly interjected, from where she was standing beside Trouble.

'I doubt you'll believe me if I said no,' said Artemis, smiling wanly. 'Maybe I should get a shot of sodium pentothal to convince you?'

'Don't push it, Artemis,' said Holly, scowling at him. 'Just answer the questions.'

'I will. I take it that you'll be using the Retimager?'

'You're losing and you're still being a smart ass,' said Foaly, stepping into the room with the Retimager. 'Your time's running out, Fowl. The Council's having an emergency meeting as we speak.'

'I didn't get the memo,' Trouble said.

The centaur shrugged. 'Hey, don't look at me. They voted that it'll be the Council's responsibility to decide what to do with the murder and not involve you officers in the decision. Can you blame me?'

'I'll take it up with them later,' said Trouble grimly.

'All right, Artemis, relax.' Foaly held up a pair of what appeared to be kitchen plungers. 'You know what happens next.'

Artemis obediently leaned back in his chair, allowing Foaly to place the plungers over his eyes and start the process.

'I'm trying out a few images,' Foaly explained as several images flashed on the projection screen. 'Knife, solinium pulse, Neutrino, Merrick himself, Ariya…truth is, Commander, there isn't enough evidence to connect this guy here with the murders. Or even show that he had a hand in the plans.'

'Anything?' asked Holly, watching the sequence of images.

'Nope.' Foaly stopped the flow of images on the screen and turned off the Retimager. 'He's clean, even with that message. He's speaking the truth…but you never know with Fowl. You can try mesmerizing him if you like.' He took the plungers off the boy's face and headed to the door with the equipment.

'I'll take that as proof enough,' said Trouble, before the centaur left the room. 'We'll let him go; but in the meantime, I want you to keep an eye on him, Foaly. We have enough to deal with in Haven as it is.'

'Thank you, Commander,' said Artemis, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. 'If there is any way that I can help to solve this mystery, don't hesitate to call me.'

'And what makes you think that you can help us, Artemis?' said Trouble, irritation written all over his face. 'Just leave now, and leave us to deal with our own problems.'

'I will.' Artemis stood up, straightening the nonexistent creases in his shirt. 'If Holly would be so kind as to escort me to E1…?'

'Wait, there's something I have to ask.' Trouble got up from his seat, his eyes narrowed. 'Holly mentioned something about your theory that someone is aiming to undermine LEP authority. What makes you think so, Fowl? A murder's a murder, not some conspiracy or anything.'

'Your Council member has been found dead,' said Artemis. 'Isn't that an indication that someone is specifically targeting the LEP?'

'And how does Merrick come into it?' asked Holly, who had remained beside her commander. 'Explain that, Artemis, because I'm not seeing it.'

'From what you said, he's quite influential in Haven. Perhaps you could check his previous contracts and business associates? See if he had anything to do with LEP, maybe?'

'I'll get Foaly on it,' said Trouble, sighing. 'So you think it's a conspiracy now, Fowl?'

'If it is, I'll be glad to help, Commander,' Artemis replied. 'I'm involved too, in a way.'

'No, you're going home.' Trouble shook his head and strode to the door. 'Holly will take you back. Oh – and Fowl?'

'Yes, Commander?'

'This is your last chance, do you understand? Give us another reason to suspect you and I'll personally sign the form to get you mind-wiped.'

'I understand, Commander.'

'Good. I'm not in a mood to give chances, Fowl. Holly, meet me in my office when you get back.'

'Yessir,' said Holly.

Trouble left the room, shutting the door after him. Holly turned to face the boy in the silence that ensued.

'Do you believe me now, Holly?' asked Artemis.

'I do, I suppose.' She shrugged and looked at him questioningly. 'So…home again? Butler will be waiting.'

'If there is any way that I can – ' Artemis began.

'No, there's nothing you can do, Artemis,' Holly interrupted before he could finish what he meant to say. 'We'll be fine on our own, _thank you_.'

'If you say so,' he said quietly. 'But if there is any way that I can make amends…'

Holly smiled, guessing what he would say next. 'Look, I'm done being angry with you, Arty. You've done enough and I've already forgiven you for what you did. It's just that I'm uneasy right now, with everything that's been happening in Haven. I wouldn't want to think that you were involved, but that message gave me reason to suspect you – but it's all right now, isn't it? And I've got to get you home in one piece, like I promised Butler.'

'I see.' He nodded but didn't say more on it.

'Come on.' She held the door open for him and gestured to him to hurry up. 'Kelp's waiting for me.'

**North-South Expressway, Malaysia**

The North-South Expressway ran, like its name, from the northern states of Peninsula Malaysia which shared their borders with Thailand all the way down south, where it met the causeway that connected the mainland with the island nation of Singapore. Virgin and secondary jungle which had escaped the rapid development brought about by the construction of the expressway lined the roads at certain stretches, and green hills threw some parts of the expressway in shadow at all times of the day.

These neglected, hilly, jungly stretches of land bordering the expressway – besides providing a scenic view on long journeys – were also handy for hiding fairy terminals from human eyes. Field operatives who needed a fast flyover to whichever populated area they had to go to were free to follow the expressway as a marker, as fairy sightings were few and far between and towns and cities were often located nearby.

And in a small sunny clearing near Kuala Lumpur, a fairy sat in the shade of large ferns.

'Anything yet?' the fairy muttered to no one in particular.

On closer look, there appeared to be a fairly conspicuous earpiece in the fairy's pointy ear.

'Oh blast.' The fairy held up a pair of binoculars and squinted through them, scanning the road.

'Port Klang, you say?' The fairy sighed and stood up, folding the binoculars into a tube and slipping it into a pocket. 'Great. More seafood.'

And then, revving up the wings on its back, the fairy pushed off from the ground and shimmered out of sight.

Motorists using the expressway often thought that the shimmer they saw above the road on hot days was due to the heat and light refraction. They were right most of the time.

**Police Plaza, Haven City**

'Hey, Captain Short! Captain! Hold on a sec!'

Foaly had just cleared the pair for a shuttle flight to E1, Tara – there were precautions they had to take to prevent fairy civilians from knowing about Artemis's presence in Haven, particularly at this time. Tension was running high outside, according to the news reports that filtered into the LEP's HQ by the minute, and civilians were worried that another threat from humans was imminent. Despite the reassurances that the LEP spokespeople kept giving to the public, many still demanded that officers be sent above ground to check up on the Mud People and stop any attack that may come from above.

Holly and Artemis stopped in their tracks, waiting for the techie who had called to them to catch up. The elf stumbled up to them, out of breath, having run all the way from the Ops Booth.

'It's Fowl,' the techie wheezed, pressing a hand against his side. 'Ow. Anyway, Foaly wants to see him. And Pomona Lyess is in there. You're to take him there, Captain.'

Holly and Artemis exchanged skeptical glances before Holly spoke, 'We've just been cleared for a flight to Tara. Are you sure about this?'

'_Yes_,' the techie said, nodding fervently. 'Hurry up – Foaly's threatening to trample me if you're not back quick.'

Holly turned sharply on her heel and marched back up the way they had come. Artemis followed after, hurrying to keep up with the elf.

'Who's Pomona Lyess?' he asked in an undertone as they turned the corner and out of sight of the techie, who had slumped against the wall to get his breath back.

'Council member. Ariya's cousin. She'll be furious after that murder.' Holly shook her head and looked over her shoulder at Artemis. 'Best if you don't say anything, Artemis.'

'I won't,' he assured her. 'I hope Foaly comes up with a good excuse.'

'What you need is an explanation, not an excuse!' cried Holly as they hurried down the next corridor. 'You've been suspected of the first murders in Haven in thirty years, Artemis, and you still don't see how precarious your position is. Do yourself a favour and try not to talk too much, okay?'

'All right, all right.' He stayed silent all the way to the Ops Booth; his thoughts were anything but silent. There was something odd about this here…and he would get down to it, despite Holly's and the commander's warning to him to keep out of their affairs. Then again, they couldn't stop him from thinking about this with his big brain, could they? And when the time came, they'll be asking him for his help, like it or not –

'Fowl?'

He came to a halt beside Holly. The sprite before him in the Ops Booth wore an expression of – what could only be – dislike. She drew herself up to her full height and stared at him coldly. So this was Pomona Lyess.

'How may I be of service, Councilwoman Lyess?' he said evenly.

'We've voted to send you to the Atlantis maximum security penitentiary,' Lyess replied. 'Four were in favour of the decision, two against. One of our members is, as you no doubt know, unable to attend any future meetings.'

'I offer my condolences on your colleague's death.'

'It doesn't change anything, Fowl. You're going to Atlantis for conspiring in the murder of two upstanding citizens of Haven, not to mention your involvement in the unprovoked shooting of a goblin by an LEP officer – '

'And _how_ is he involved in that?' Holly interrupted. 'There's no proof that he was!'

'Captain.' Lyess switched her stare from Artemis to the captain. 'I do remind you that you are LEP and that the Council's decision should be followed at all times by officers of any rank. I'm putting you in charge of escorting Fowl to Atlantis with the Retrieval Three squad. Please see to it immediately.'

'Wait – wait – you can't do that to Fowl, Lyess,' said Foaly. He had been remained silent during the exchange earlier, preferring to watch and see how it would go. Things were not looking good here.

'It's the Council's decision, Foaly,' Lyess said. 'We've signed the necessary paperwork, and it's _your_ job to process the forms and see to it that this boy here is in his secure cell as soon as possible. Do it. Now.'

'But there hasn't been any precedent to this,' Foaly protested. 'We haven't had a human in Atlantis at any time in history, and doing this might just go against the law, Lyess. And there's human law to consider.'

'I don't care about human law at this point in time,' said Lyess, smiling humorlessly. 'Civilians are panicking as we speak, and I'm not going to see more murders today or any time in the future. If the Council thinks that Fowl should be locked up for our safety, then so be it. Good day to you.' She swept out of the booth amid dismayed stares from Holly and Foaly.

'We're screwed,' said Foaly, clopping back to his computers.

'Can you reverse the decision, Foaly?' Holly joked half-heartedly as she followed him to the screens. 'Destroy the paperwork and just let Artemis go?'

'It gives me much grief to hear you say that, Short,' said someone from the doorway.

She kept her back to the door, recognizing the voice.

'We have to see to it that the People are safe,' said Trouble Kelp, entering the booth. He nodded briefly to Artemis, who gave a curt nod in return. 'It's not about what we think is right, Captain, but what is right for the People.'

'Artemis is innocent, Commander,' she said softly. 'It's not right to lock him up when he hasn't done anything. There's no sufficient evidence against him.'

'Who said it should be fair?' Kelp gave a bark of derisive laughter. 'We have to consider the safety of Haven's citizens, Short, and you're talking about what's fair.'

'Sorry, Commander.'

'Get to it then. Cuff the boy and call up Retrieval Three. I want him out of my sight before the Council makes another decision without my knowledge.'

'Yessir.'

'Commander,' said Foaly, 'we're risking a lot by sending Fowl to Atlantis. We're not just talking about fairy law, but Mud Man law too. What if he decides to take action against us in the future?'

'Let the boy have his say,' said Trouble coolly. 'Do you have any objections to us locking you up in Atlantis, Fowl?'

Artemis smiled at the commander's back. Kelp was giving him a chance to point out the loop hole in the Council's decision without actually hinting that he knew about it. The new commander was a difficult one to trick.

'No objections, Commander,' he replied, to horrified looks from both Holly and Foaly. 'And I promise not to sue if I'm freed.'

'I thought you'd take the bait, Fowl,' said Trouble. 'Not so smart now, are you?'

'Let's just say I have my own plans.'

There was a look on his face that Holly was all too familiar with – Artemis was planning something on his own, unsurprisingly. She hoped for his sake and everyone else's that he knew what he was doing. Artemis's plans had a tendency to involve danger and people not knowing what they were doing beforehand, as she had come to learn from past experience. And she had a bad feeling about that vampire smile still fixed on his pale face – she would have to go along with his plans when the time came, whether she wanted to or not.

_Still, it's better than nothing_, she thought as she secured his wrists with plastic cuffs while Foaly contacted the captain of the Retrieval Three squad for her. She searched Artemis for any electronic devices on him as per protocol, but there were none, as she had advised him to leave them at the Manor before heading to E1.

'Don't do anything stupid, Artemis,' she whispered as she walked him to the door. 'I won't be around to save you all the time.'

'You can trust me, Holly,' he said.

_I wish he'd stop staying that_, she thought as she gave him a none-too-gentle slap on the arm.

* * *

To quote the Queen of Hearts: "Sentence first - verdict afterwards."


	10. Chapter 9: A Shoal of Questions

Thank you for reading, and reviewing, and following this story! =D

Whoops - forgot to mention in the previous chapter that the Artemis-going-to-jail idea was originally Colfer's. *is very, very ashamed* Referenced from the August 2008 interview on AF Confidential; do go read it to find out more about the next book.

To the beta: May you *sparkle* always, my dear.

**Disclaimer:** Nothing belongs to me. Except for the plot, o' 'cos.

* * *

Chapter 9: A Shoal of Questions

**Atlantis maximum security penitentiary**

'Name?' said the sprite, glaring unpleasantly at the Mud Boy before him. 'Family? Birth date and address, please.'

'Artemis Fowl. The second,' said the boy. 'Fowl family. September first – '

'I _said_, what family? Are you elf, pixie, or troll? Or a dwarf, possibly?' The sprite wrote something down on the screen of the register before him, wings quivering with undisguised impatience. 'Or are you a hybrid?'

Artemis glanced at the words the sprite had scribbled down. There was something that looked very much like 'subnormal intelligence' and 'waste of time' in upside-down Gnommish. How witty. And the sprite had spelled his name wrongly.

'It's F-O-W-L, Fowl,' said Artemis. 'I'm amazed that you haven't heard of me. And I am, as you are unable to deduce for yourself, a human. I am Irish, and humans do not have 'families' like fairies do.'

Holly administered a surreptitious kick to the back of his knee.

'I have the forms here,' she said, pushing Artemis aside and handing the digital tablet with the e-forms over to the sprite. 'Signatures from the Council – they've been rectified by Foaly and stamped with the official seal by Chairman Cahartez himself. All the details you need about the prisoner are in there.'

'You should've told me.' The sprite took the tablet and scrolled through the forms, lips pursed in a good imitation of The Grinch. 'You young officers think you can get away with anything these days. Back in my time, oh back in my time…'

The sprite paused and held up the tablet, jabbing a green finger at a particular sentence and smiling nastily. 'Right to fair trial denied until the Council votes on it.' The information seemed to give him some satisfaction for reasons nobody knew. 'Oh you're in _deep_, Fowl. We've had cases like you before. Usually hardened criminals or psychopaths. What did you do?'

'Can we get this done quickly?' said Captain Torpenhow of the Retrieval Three squad. 'My superior's ordering us to get back to Haven right now.'

The sprite gave him a long, heavy stare. 'I'm moving fast enough as it is.'

'Look, _Lieutenant_ Shoal, get your superior here and sort this out quickly,' Holly said, slapping her hand down on the registration desk. 'We need to get back to Haven _now_, d'you hear me? We've got a situation there while you sit here on your well-padded behind.'

'Yeah yeah, patronize an old officer,' Shoal grumbled, shuffling out from behind the desk and heading down a corridor nearby. 'You young officers these days.'

'You didn't want me to be locked up a while ago,' Artemis said to Holly, sounding amused. 'How swift the tide does change.'

'Keep talking, Artemis, and I'll ask the Council to extend your term,' she muttered, keeping an eye on Captain Torpenhow as she spoke. The other captain was too busy replying his superior's calls to notice the conversation between Holly and the soon-to-be first human prisoner in Atlantis.

'I wonder if I'll meet our old friend in there,' mused Artemis. 'That should be interesting.'

'Opal Koboi? You two have fun in jail.' Holly glanced at the other officers before leaning in to whisper, 'I'd appreciate it if you tell me your plans, Artemis. I need to know what part I'll be playing in them.'

'You'll see, Captain,' he said, his expression unchanged. He gave her a wink and reached across with one recently freed hand to take the tablet Holly had passed to the sprite earlier. Holly made no move to stop him – his hands were free, but one step to freedom would have him pinned down and out cold by the Retrieval boys. Besides, Artemis wouldn't be that stupid to try escaping without help. The Atlantis penitentiary was anchored to the seabed to a depth of over five thousand metres.

She watched as he scrolled through the forms and returned the tablet without making any changes to them. She was about to ask him about it when the sprite shuffled back to them with his major in tow.

'Captain Short. Captain Torpenhow,' said the Atlantis major, nodding to each officer in turn. 'I'll take the prisoner to his cell right now.'

'Thank you, Major.' Holly gave Artemis a gentle push in the direction of the Atlantis major. 'Go on, Fowl. Have fun in there for the next hundred years.'

'I'll look forward to seeing you again, Captain Short.' Artemis gave her another wink and followed the Atlantis major down the main hallway to the entrance of the cells.

_If he messes this up_, she thought, trailing after the Retrieval Three squad to the shuttle waiting to take them back to Haven, _I'll make sure he doesn't wink at me again. Permanently._

**Haven City**

'Since when did we become the LEP's lackeys?' grumbled Mulch as he sneaked through one of the many alleys of Haven.

Here he was, out on stakeout when he should be at the PI firm or at home, downing the last can of juice or the last pack of beetles before turning in for the night. But – _oh no­ _– Foaly had given a call and _requested_ him to check up on Merrick's contacts and business associates…which Mulch had already done, soon after Holly came to see him about Merrick's murder, in fact. The thing was, he had found nothing – the gremlin had been pretty clean by Haven's standards during his lifetime, and the unknown vigilantes had all but disappeared without a trace. The LEP could be so dim sometimes.

'Day to Diggums,' said Doodah, from an undisclosed location several streets away. 'Anything yet?'

Mulch adjusted his earpiece for the umpteenth time and sighed; it kept tickling his ear and it was driving him crazy. He'd have to wheedle new ones from Foaly some time soon. 'Nothin', partner. You?'

'I've got some toys. Kids these days eh, chucking their stuff when it gets obsolete.' Mulch heard the sound of plastic hitting metal in the background. 'Nothing about Merrick, Diggums.'

'Want to call it a night?' Mulch suggested as he nipped down the next alley. 'Get some grub and close up for the day.'

'Sounds good to me.'

One more alley to go, then he would be out on the back street which ran behind the depot for Merrick's transport vehicles. He had passed this place three times in the past hour or so, looping back through the alleys, but the depot was silent, shut down since Merrick's death. The executor of the fairy's estate had decided to suspend the company's operations until the will and related legal matters had been dealt with. And the LEP had quietly interfered and asked all business transactions to be put on hold until more clues could be found to help in the investigation.

Here was something different. Mulch shrank back into the shadow of the poorly lit alley, watching as a lorry came to a stop at one of the depot's large entrances. The driver beeped the horn, signaling to someone within the depot. Then the shutter door began to rise.

Several goblins ducked beneath the half-raised shutter and headed to the lorry. The doors of the container were thrown open, and crates were passed out to the waiting goblins in the street. A few carried the crates into the depot, all the while talking in their hissing, reptilian voices.

The name painted on the side of the lorry was pretty obvious – Merrick Transportation, it declared in bright blue letters. But Mulch was too far away to discern the contents of the crates. He would have to sneak in closer for a better look…and within range of the goblins' fireballs too. The LEP would definitely be charged a _stupendous_ amount for the consultation fees when the firm was done with this case.

Right, concentrate on the task at hand. That bin there – oh, a convenient shadow. And then the angle of the wall there…just a little closer…

'Hey, wazzat?' said a goblin, who was unluckily more observant and smarter than his fellow goblins. He dropped the crate he had been carrying and pointed to the strangely shaped shadow flattened against the wall across the street.

'What?' His friend turned, squinting at the patch of the wall the first goblin had indicated.

'That looks like a dwarf, that does,' said the first one. 'I hate dwarfs. Big bums.'

'Yeah,' his friend agreed, nodding. 'And they're all cheats.'

'Stupid too.'

'Hey, did I tell you about the stupid dwarf who tried to eat me in LEP Central? I'm still looking for the guy.'

'Really?'

'Yeah. And that one there looks just like him.'

Safe in the shadow (for now), Mulch grinned, remembering the good old days when he was still a convict. Well actually, he _was_ still a convict at heart, but hey, he wasn't complaining if the LEP had stopped trying to arrest him for every teensy crime. The PI firm was a good front for hiding the smaller crimes he continued to dabble in these days. To keep his hand in the game, like he said to himself. And old habits died hard.

The first fireball missed his head by inches. Mulch rolled towards the bin nearby, hoping to get out sight before the goblins could follow up with more. No such luck.

The second whizzed past his face, singeing his beard in patches. D'Arvit.

'Hey, stupid dwarf,' someone hissed, right in his ear, 'we saw you _first_.' A hand gripped his shirt and hauled the dwarf to his feet. 'And you know what we really, really hate?'

'A dwarf?' said Mulch meekly.

'A sneaking, lying, cheating, stupid dwarf,' the goblin corrected, his breath leaking flames uncomfortably close to Mulch's face. 'I really, _really_ hate dwarfs like this.'

'Really? Thanks.' Mulch ducked in time, avoiding the whoosh of flames from the goblin's nose. Ooo, close one.

'What're you doing here, stumpy?' It was the goblin who had first spotted him. 'Hey, I know you! You nearly took my head off once!'

'Best experience of your life,' Mulch laughed, elbowing the goblin in the ribs. He pushed past the others who had come up to join the fun, but they were too surprised to react.

Mulch ran towards the crates the goblins had left abandoned on the street, narrowly avoiding the fireballs the shouting goblins hurled at him. He had a pretty good idea of what was inside those crates, but he had to get a closer look, _oh D'Arvit – _

Mulch swerved at the last moment and leapt behind the lorry, just as a fireball arced over his head and fell straight into one of the crates. He crouched down with his arms over his head, waiting for the explosion.

Nothing happened.

The goblins were sniggering as they formed a semi-circle around him.

'Not so smart now, stupid?' said a particularly nasty-looking one. He kicked the dwarf, mostly out of pure spite than in self-defense. 'Ain't no LEP to save you here.'

'Put your hands up and turn around!' a voice squeaked. 'Do it now before I shoot!'

The goblins froze; a few held up their hands obediently.

'I said _turn around_!' It sounded like a child. Or a pixie on helium.

The goblins turned around, hands held above their heads. All except one, but Mulch leaned around him to get a look at his rescuer.

It was Doodah, a gun in his small hands. The pixie was clearly terrified – even his voice had gone several pitches higher into a register Mulch had not thought possible – but Doodah was standing his ground all the same. The goblins shuffled a bit, but it was doubtful whether they were thinking about how they could overpower the tiny pixie.

The one goblin who had not turned around shot Mulch a foul look, before kicking the dwarf right in the head.

Or he would have, if Mulch had not caught the foot and given it a 180° twist. Something broke.

Mulch pushed the goblin over, barged past the rest and headed straight for Doodah. The fireballs came a few seconds later, after the goblins' brains had kicked in and realized that the dwarf was getting away. Both dwarf and pixie dived into the next alley and didn't stop running until they emerged in Tara Road, drawing many curious stares from passersby.

'Where did you get that?' Mulch gasped as he slowed to a stop.

'This?' Doodah held up the gun and pressed the trigger several times. It emitted large coloured bubbles and a tinny _pshew pshew_ noise. 'It's a Bubbleblaster. Found it just now, before I came to save you.'

'I've just been rescued by a pixie with a toy gun,' Mulch groaned. 'This had better not get out.'

'A thank you would be nice,' said Doodah huffily. 'It's better than being goblin kebab.'

'Point taken. _Thank you. _Just don't tell anyone.'

'But it was brave of me, wasn't it?' Doodah puffed out his chest proudly. 'Doodah Day: legendary smuggler, unbeatable private investigator and courageous rescuer of idiot dwarfs.'

'Shut up.'

'Jeez, lighten up, Diggums. So what did you find?'

'I'll tell you once we're back in the office. The goblins might be back.'

'Fine, fine. Want to get something first? Seaweed noodles?'

'Disgusting. Let's get fried squid.'

'And sushi.'

'And slug jelly and lemon beer.'

'Good idea.'

'Did you bring money?'

'D'Arvit.'

'Lucky for me, I brought some. We're getting deep fried pit slug.'

'I _hate_ pit slug. Pixies can't take that disgusting stuff.'

'Too bad, Day. Get that gun out of my face, d'you hear me?'

'You suggested pit slug.'

'Fine. We'll get the sushi.'

'Thanks. You want a light sabre in case the goblins attack again? I have one spare.'

'Shut up.'

* * *

To quote the beta: "That was random." Would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! :)


	11. Chapter 10: False Alarm

You guys get a cookie for reading and reviewing this story! :) Thank you!

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Chapter 10: False Alarm

**Haven City**

There was a mob in front of Spud's Spud Emporium by the time Holly returned to Haven and decided to drop by the fast-food restaurant for a quick meal. It seemed like most of Haven's citizens were out and about late that evening; a palpable cloud of anxiety and fear seemed to hang over the city. Even during the goblin/dwarf turf wars that flared up from time to time and with increasing violence, Holly had not seen fairies in Haven this disturbed or uneasy before.

'Hey! You!' a dwarf called to her as she pushed through the crowd to the restaurant's doors. 'Where's our apology?'

'I demand an explanation for your actions!' a gnome yelled.

'Police brutality!'

'You're beating up kids!'

'Where's the head honchos then?'

'My shop's been robbed! By an LEP officer!'

It wasn't just the dwarfs and goblins protesting in front of Spud's Emporium – the crowd stretched down the street and past the nearest police station. Elves, and pixies, and gnomes, and sprites – it seemed that everyone had a complaint against the LEP tonight. And she, Captain Short, was the target for their grievances and complaints due to the simple fact that she had on an LEP uniform and badge.

_This isn't about the turf wars anymore_, she realized, her heart sinking as more fairies blocked her way to the restaurant's entrance. _Something's gone really wrong._

An empty cup sailed over the crowd and hit her in the face, hard. Holly held her hands up, indicating that she meant no harm and was carrying no weapons. It didn't work – fairies continued to jostle her as she pushed her way through; some deliberately elbowed and tripped her.

'Hey officer,' an elderly female elf said, grabbing Holly's arm, 'you get right back to the station and sort things out, all right? Or we're going to fight back. We've got our families to think about, and our kids aren't safe if LEP continues to act way out of line. So get back to your superior before things get worse.'

'Wh-what?' Holly stammered, stumbling over various feet and legs in her path. 'What happened?'

'Listen, girl. I'm one of them who's kept her head, but I can tell that most of us won't be calm and steady if things get worse. We've got LEP beating up fairies for no reason, and some have guns. I don't know why they're doing it – _we_ don't know – but I want _you_ to find out why. So go!'

'But I can't get out –' Holly winced as someone aimed a well-placed kick to her hip.

'Get to the door, get out at the back.' The elf shoved her through the mass of bodies and pushed her through the half-opened door. '_Go!_'

Holly hobbled through the silent restaurant – Spud had locked the doors after her and taken refuge under the counter – before stumbling through the back door into the quiet back street.

There were three figures a little way down the street, talking in low voices among themselves. Holly made a dash in the opposite direction, praying that those fairies had not spotted her. She couldn't see their faces and uniforms in the half-darkness, but there were signs that they were LEP. The guns they were holding were a big giveaway, for starters. Best to get out of the place and away from her fellow officers, as civilians were all too likely to start attacking LEP in the current situation. Head to the nearest station, said the elf. Which was what Holly did.

**Operations Booth**

'Holly? Holly? You there?' Foaly banged a fist down on the table and dialed the number again. 'Pick up the damn phone, Short!'

There was no answer. Foaly searched through the LEP's records feverishly, calling up Holly's phone signal to track her location. Her helmet seemed to be stationary – location: LEP station near Spud's Spud Emporium – but he had to be sure that she was safe. He had to warn her to stay away from the mobs and disguise herself if possible –

'Foaly!' Holly shrieked down the line. 'What the D'Arvit happened?'

'Where are you?' he yelled back. There was so much noise in the background – fairies shouting, children crying, and calls for people to help build –

'Foaly?' The noise level dipped slightly; Holly must have managed to extricate herself from the crowd. 'It's bad here.'

'Where are you?'

'Just outside Briar Street and Enders Tunnel. Foaly, they're building barricades across the streets.'

'_What?'_

'LEP, Foaly, LEP. They haven't shot anyone, thank Frond, but a few fairies have been threatened and some shops looted and now people are worried, so they're building barricades to stop any more officers coming to their street_._ What's happening?'

'I'm checking, I'm checking.' Foaly ran through the list of officers who had signed out weapons and equipment on the current shift. Right. Time to track their movements.

'Foaly?'

'Hold on a sec. Wait…oh D'Arvit, there's nothing there! Officers above ground, on patrol, all seems okay –'

'Foaly!'

'What?'

'I just saw Corporal Scarlatti going past – oh there's Rook – '

'Right. I'm seeing them here – they're supposed to be on patrol along Wendell Avenue – anyone else from LEPtraffic there?'

'Just those two.'

'Right, right. I have to get Kelp on this – oh, and Holly?'

'Yeah?'

'Get out of your LEP uniform, okay? And keep your phone with you.'

'I will. I'll try to get to Police Plaza.'

'Good. And now I have to meet the commander.'

**Council Meeting Room, Police Plaza**

'In light of the recent tragic events,' said Chairman Cahartez, 'I have decided that it would only be proper for the Council to elect a member to replace Councilwoman Ariya, in order to ensure that all procedures proceed as smoothly as possible in this crisis.' He adjusted his official conical hat and beamed at the fairies assembled in the meeting room. 'So what do you say? Any suggestions? Objections?'

'I second that.' Pomona Lyess raised her hand, glancing round the room as she did so. 'We need to ensure safety in Haven, particularly in this trying time.'

'Shall we vote on it then?' said Cahartez.

'Do you have a candidate in mind?' asked Vinyáya.

'To be sure – Bresniv, if you would be so kind as to rise and introduce yourself?'

Otto Bresniv rose from his seat beside Cahartez, his smile mirroring the Chairman's as he nodded amiably to the rest of the Council. Cahartez clapped his hands for attention.

'Otto Bresniv was, as you all here know, recently promoted to head of Internal Affairs after ex-Commander Sool was – ah – demoted.' Cahartez shook his head and went on, 'I assure you that Bresniv has an impeccable record and has demonstrated admirable qualities in policing and leadership. He was an officer in the Retrieval Two squad, back in my heyday as a field operative…'

'Load of bullshit, isn't it?' said Vinyáya laconically in an undertone to Commander Kelp beside her.

'I agree.' Trouble smiled. 'I take it that you'll vote against?'

'Oh yes.' Vinyáya raised her hand. 'Nay.'

'And you, Commander Kelp?' said Cahartez.

Trouble raised his had alongside Vinyáya's. 'Nay.'

Cahartez chuckled, amused. 'The majority wins, unfortunately. Bresniv, I, on behalf of the Council, do welcome you into our elite club! Give a round of applause to the new addition to the Council!'

**Boulevard of Kings**

More chaos. More fear. More headache for a certain LEP officer in disguise.

Holly trudged along the street on the edge of the crowd, half-listening to the conversations that floated to her ears. People were talking about protecting themselves from the LEP; there were also suggestions for the crowd to disperse and for people to return home and lock themselves in. Well it was a good sign, wasn't it, if they were thinking about going home now?

She hoped so, at least. Where was LEPtraffic and crowd control?

Holly scratched her neck for the fourth time that night; the dress she had thrown over her LEP uniform had proven effective as a disguise, but the lace at the collar and cuffs was giving her a serious itch. Still, she wasn't one to complain – she had been lucky to obtain one after stumbling blindly through somebody's back door while running from a group of irate gnomes. The female gremlin had taken her word that she meant no harm and had promptly produced a dress for Holly to wear over her tell-tale dull green uniform.

_What am I doing here?_ she wondered as she passed a half-constructed barricade being built across the road leading to Burnball Avenue. _I'm supposed to be back at the station. Or Police Plaza. Not here._

But something made her stop to watch fairies gathering in front of their homes, their children and families with them.

_My parents would have done the same_, she thought, noting the fearful expressions on the faces of the younger fairies. The older ones looked decidedly grim. _LEP or not, they would've done anything to make sure that the kids are okay. It's my duty to protect these people, but how am I supposed to do that when the LEP is responsible for doing this to them?_

_Your job is to protect the People, Short._ Those were Julius Root's words, hammered into her head over the years, again and again. _You do the job you have to do, and your job is to protect the People_.

Back to Police Plaza then.

**Police Plaza**

'Short.' Trouble was waiting for her in his office, sipping a cup of sim-coffee thoughtfully as he sat on the edge of his desk.

'Yes, Commander?'

'Nice dress.' Foaly gave a whinny of amusement as he entered the office behind Holly, computer in hand. 'You okay, Holly?'

'Fine, thanks. Thanks for calling. And don't insult the dress – it saved my life out there.'

'Good thing too – it looked bad for a while there.' The centaur sighed and passed the handheld computer over to Trouble. 'Civilians protesting in the streets, some started building barricades and many claimed that the LEP was misusing authority.'

'Who were those officers?' said Trouble as he passed the computer back to Foaly and poured himself more coffee. 'Are they ours or impostors?'

'Ours.'

There was silence as Trouble finished his coffee and Holly fidgeted with the dress.

'Any updates?' asked Trouble. 'From those still in contact?'

'A few,' Foaly replied. 'LEPtraffic reports that most roads have been blocked, but things are more or less under control. People are calming down, and rogue officers haven't been seen for the past two hours.'

'That's encouraging.' Trouble poured himself a third cup. 'Do you have the names?'

'That's the amazing part,' said Foaly, holding up the list of names displayed on the computer screen. 'Somebody sent this message fifteen minutes ago. I've checked them against our records, and these officers were supposed to get off their shifts hours ago. They signed out at the end of the shift, all right, and then we don't know where they went to. Presumably they went home, but it doesn't look like it, does it?'

'Who sent the message?' asked Holly, watching as Trouble poured yet another cup of coffee.

'Ah.' Foaly grinned sheepishly and flicked his tail in embarrassment. 'I can't trace it.'

'The vigilantes again?' said Trouble.

'Might be, Kelp, might be. Some witnesses to the police attacks claimed that they've seen people in grey uniforms arguing with the LEP officers. There've been fights too, apparently, but as nobody seems to know who these fairies in grey _are_, we can't say for sure if they're working with the rogue officers or not.'

'Rogue officers and vigilantes,' Holly said, smiling wryly. 'The plot thickens.'

'So what are your next orders, Kelp?' said Foaly.

'Should I get out there and assess the situation?' said Holly. 'I can go in disguise.'

'We lie low for a while, Foaly.' Trouble gulped down his sixth cup of coffee and pointed at Holly. 'And you, Captain, are to go home and get some rest.'

'But I can do some recon right now,' she protested. 'What if the situation goes completely out of control?'

'I don't think so, Holly,' Foaly said, consulting his computer. 'Looks like the crowds are dispersing, people are going home, and some are listening to our LEP officers…'

'Go home, Short,' said Trouble. 'That's an order. You look dead on your feet.'

'Commander –'

'Why do you have to be so stubborn, Holly? Get some rest. You'll have a lot to do tomorrow, since you're so eager to help.'

'Oh – all right. Night then. See you. Bye, Foaly. Kelp.'

Trouble waited until the elf had walked out of sight before he went to shut the door. And then he made himself a fresh pot of coffee.

'You might want to slow down on the caffeine, Kelp,' Foaly remarked, looking meaningfully at the cup in Trouble's hand. 'I've heard it gives you insomnia.'

Trouble waved a hand dismissively. 'I've gone longer without coffee to stay up nights.'

'What did you think about Bresniv?'

'Cahartez's pet monkey, clear and simple. He brought the guy in to swing the Council vote in his favour. Not surprising with these politicians.'

'You should've told her about the decision though,' said Foaly, reading the latest updates on his computer with exaggerated attention. 'The last one didn't go down too well with her.'

'I'll tell her when I see her in the morning.'

'The sooner the better, I say.' Foaly headed to the door with a smirk on his face. 'Cheerio, Kelp. Good luck breaking the news to her.'

'Females. Emotional creatures,' Trouble confided to his fifteenth cup of coffee. He sighed and drained the last of the sim-coffee. 'All the best to you, Trubs.'

* * *

**A/N:** Yep, more credit given to Pratchett's _Night Watch_.


	12. Chapter 11: All at Sea

You guys - thank you for reading and reviewing this story! :) Much appreciated, it is.

To the beta - we go out for makan someday yeah? (I see whether can belanja kay? ;)

**Disclaimer:** Eoin Colfer is the Creator and Sole Owner of the Artemis Fowl series. Ho hum, me owns nothing.

* * *

Chapter 11: All at Sea

**Atlantis maximum security penitentiary**

The Atlantis penitentiary was in reality a collection of polymer blocks anchored to the seabed to a depth of over five thousand metres, in an unknown ocean trench somewhere within the Atlantic Ocean. Travel to the penitentiary was restricted to LEP shuttles with the prisoners and their accompanying officers. The most famous face so far to have entered this place was Opal Koboi, but she might just have been knocked off her throne by one human – no, the _first_ human – prisoner in Atlantis.

Artemis sat in his cell watching the two-way telescreen as he contemplated his next plan. Three sides of the cell were blacked out, preventing him from seeing the outside world and his fellow prisoners in the next cells. The single wall that had been left transparent looked out onto the walkway, which extended from the main station to the doors of the cells. The walkway was made of the same toughened polymer as the cells, and functioned as a long, tubular airlock that enabled officers to patrol the penitentiary without coming into contact with the prisoners. A metre-long gap separated the walkway from the cell doors – any officer who needed to enter the cells would have to key in the security code at the corresponding doorway in the airlock. The doorway would then extend itself across the gap and lock into place at the respective door, forming an extension to the main walkway itself.

With security as tight as it was in Atlantis, there were only three possible ways in which a prisoner could leave this place successfully:

a) By pardon

b) By death

c) By external help

The last option didn't look likely to Artemis. Getting to the penitentiary itself required stringent checks from the LEP, and most unauthorized shuttles would find themselves a nasty surprise if they got too close to the place. There were motion sensors in all corners of the facility, with cameras and pre-programmed laser blasters to deter any fairy or sea creature from breaking into the place.

At present, there was nothing for the boy to do but watch Lieutenant Shoal glaring back at him from the telescreen. The sprite had taken a massive dislike to the boy – Artemis wasn't entirely innocent either – and both were determined not to give in to the other. It amused Artemis to no end that he could annoy someone simply by staring blankly.

Fish and strange deep sea creatures came to goggle at him through the transparent wall. Artemis was not sufficiently bored yet to pay them the compliment of goggling back. Time to plot.

'You think you're smart, don't yer?' Shoal said, breaking the silence that had stretched for the past hour and twenty-seven minutes.

'I don't think it, Lieutenant,' said Artemis, chuckling softly. 'I am perfectly aware of it.'

'Listen to the smart mouth on him.' Shoal chewed on something grey – there was a glimpse of a waving tentacle before he slurped it back into his mouth. 'You won't be so cocky when you've been in there for years, my boy.'

'Like the prisoner next door?'

Opal Koboi was in the next cell, as Artemis had found out when the Atlantis major escorted him to his cell. The pixie had glared at him malevolently and turned her back on him, talking to the cardboard seahorses that she had placed in all corners of the small space. She looked almost sane in there, but a ghost of her former self. Her hair was shorn into a bob and there was a thin, papery look to her skin. But the eyes…oh, the eyes. They continued to watch the world – or whichever small part of it that she could see – with such rage and desire.

Artemis wasn't too worried about her.

'What you'll have for lunch, Mud Boy?' said Shoal, spooning some greenish slimy stuff into his permanently pursed mouth. 'Dolphin? Killer whale? Seal?'

'Something a little more…organic would be fine, thank you.'

Shoal laughed, spluttering the green stuff over the screen. 'You'll get organic right here, boy. Ain't nothing else we can give yer!'

'Ah, pardon. I meant vegetables and fruits. No meat, please.'

'I wonder about that, yer know,' said Shoal, scratching his ear with the end of his spoon. 'Are octopuses meat or fruit?'

'The correct term is 'octopi', Lieutenant. No sea creatures for me.'

'Yeah yeah, patronize an old bugger like me. You'll get the same like the rest, my boy.' Shoal grinned, showing his graying teeth and the green slime caught between them. Artemis just managed not to recoil from the telescreen in disgust.

'Scared yer, didn't I?' Shoal got up from his seat and left the telescreen, muttering all the while.

He appeared in the walkway a few minutes later with a tray of bowls. Artemis watched as the sprite stopped before each doorway, keyed in the correct code, and placed the bowl on a shelf. The shelf formed itself into a tube and extended across the gap to a corresponding slot next to the cell door, where it deposited the bowl under the small airtight flap in the wall. Artemis watched as a bowl slid on to the shelf he had noticed beside his own cell door.

Shoal waved at him and moved on to the next cells.

Time to see what horrors the sprite had cooked up for him. Artemis took the bowl with him to the table that had been provided and tore off the foil cover of the bowl. There was a greenish-grey soup inside, with pale grayish noodles. It didn't look appetizing.

A sound near the door made him look up, to see that a plastic cup had been deposited on the shelf. He held it up to his nose and sniffed. Tea? Not likely.

Peeling off the foil cover revealed a greenish grey liquid in the cup. Artemis took a tentative sip of it as Shoal watched from the walkway with a huge grin on his face.

'This tastes,' Artemis remarked to the wall, '_almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea_.' But he finished the drink all the same, as he was thirsty. It wasn't Earl Grey, but it was better than suffering from self-induced thirst.

'Like it, Mud Boy?' said Shoal from the telescreen. 'Like the soup?'

'There's nothing to eat it with,' Artemis pointed out. 'Are prisoners here deprived of their right to use suitable cutlery for their meals?'

'Look closer, smart mouth. Check under the cover.'

Artemis did as he was told. There was an item of cutlery under the cover, made of some bendable paper-like material.

'A spork,' he said, with a perfectly straight face. 'I look forward to my meals in the future.'

'We can't give you convicts forks – that'll be dangerous!' Shoal cackled. 'A spork has two functions, see? _And_ it helps save on the budget. We ain't got money to splash on forks for you hopeless cases.'

'Really, Shoal, I doubt anyone has broken out of here with a fork.'

'Oh, you'll try, we know your kind. We can't give you anything sharp, that'll be like handing the catnip to the pixies – recipe for disaster, see?'

'I see,' said Artemis gravely, taking a bite of the noodles. It tasted like noodles. And the soup was just plain old seaweed soup. But he didn't take more – if his plans went as he had thought, he would be out of here by night. And his plans always went the way he wanted them.

Well, usually.

**Breakhill Road, Haven City**

There was a gorilla in there somewhere. Somewhere in the cage. And Artemis was in danger.

_Where is he?_

Holly watched herself kneel down beside the boy lying on the floor of the cage. And then she bent over and –

'D'Arvit!' she yelped. Her eyes flew open as she jerked out of sleep.

_Right. Take a deep breath. Several deep breaths. Nothing happened. Concentrate. On the gorilla. Yes, the damn gorilla._

She groaned aloud and rolled over in the futon, burying her face in the pillow.

_I can still feel it, though. Erm. The sparks. Yes. The magic. Not his li –_

'Who am I kidding?' she mumbled.

She had tried to suppress the memory ever since the – er – Incident, but it had a habit of catching her unawares in her dreams. Or when she was idly thinking about something else – something that was definitely _not_ related to The Incident.

_But you want to remember, don't you_? a sly voice said. _Even when you found it difficult to trust him, you still wanted to remember, didn't you?_

'I didn't!' she protested. 'I was in my teenage body then!'

_Thought precedes action, Holly_, the voice continued. _Are you sure you didn't mean it at all?_

'You shut up.' She sat up, rubbing her face vigorously as though she could rub out the memory. 'It happened, but it's in the past now, so I'm not going to bother about it.'

_I doubt it_.

She staggered out of bed to the bathroom, cursing under her breath. Trouble had been right – she was too worn out with the events over the past twenty-four hours to think straight. The dream was just because of that – she was too tired. Yes. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was thinking of ways to get Artemis out of Atlantis.

'I told him no more,' she told her reflection in the mirror severely. ''Your elf-kissing days are over'. So there. Nothing more.'

_And he's still a child…_

_But what if – what if – you had remained in that same body when you returned? Would you have acted differently after that? Didn't you hope, just a little bit, that you would stay the same when you came back to the present?_

'Shut up.' She glared at her reflection, which stared back at her with red-rimmed eyes and tousled hair.

_He won't be a child forever…_

'Oh that is sick.' She laughed and splashed her face with warm water. 'We're different species, mmm.'

_You could try, couldn't you? And you said yourself: In another time…it could have been possible. Not now, but maybe, just maybe, if you were both willing in the future – _

'There is no future.' She leaned her forehead against the cool glass, feeling drops of water trickling down her face and neck. 'I refuse to believe in that.'

_And yet you still want it, though you won't admit it, _the voice said, reasonably and calmly. _Why do you have to be so stubborn, Holly?_

'Because I don't want it.' She scrubbed her face with the towel and flung it into the basin. 'And get out of my head.'

She checked the clock on the way back to bed; there were about three hours left before her next shift. She was worn out, and frazzled with everything she had done today. Her thoughts would be clearer when she woke up tomorrow.

_I still need to get him out of Atlantis_, she thought drowsily as she curled up to sleep. _Butler'd kill me if anything happens to Arty._

_Thinking about Arty again?_ The voice was back, sarcastic this time. _Really, Holly. You're a disgrace to the LEP._

'Who're you, my fairy godmother?' she slurred, half-asleep.

_Consider me…your conscience._

'Oh good. I don't need it.' And then she snuggled deeper under the duvet and started snoring.

* * *

**A/N:** Er. I think I wrote this while I had a cold a month ago.

Credits: 1. Orwell, for the name and idea of the telescreen. 2. The phrase '_almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea_' belongs to Douglas Adams. 3. Chapter title from the song of the same name by Jamie Cullum.

And yes - I'm still batting back and forth on the canon H/A shipping. (Which is odd, because I was a shipper back when TEC was first published!) I find Artemis's young age an issue when it comes to this ship - but I'll really like to know what will happen to the pair once he grows up.

Clickety-click that nice green button and leave your thoughts!


	13. Chapter 12: Incendiary

Thank you for reading and reviewing, you guys! Gives me the fuzzies, it does.

A gajillion thanks to the beta - hope your kitchen experiments are going well :)

**Disclaimer:** Eoin Colfer owns this series - I'm just an amateur writer, I am.

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Chapter 12: Incendiary

**Kuala Lumpur**

There were two figures on the dark platform of a monorail station somewhere in Kuala Lumpur. One of the figures had a headscarf, which didn't look out of place in Malaysia; the other was in a jumpsuit, which would look out of place in Malaysia. But this was night, and the lights had been dimmed, and the platform was empty.

'Any news?' asked the one in the jumpsuit. The silhouette of the figure against the lights from the street below showed a hint of pointed ears. And both figures were barely a metre tall.

The one in the headscarf shook her head. 'Nothing yet. But we're keeping an eye on her.'

'Call me if anything turns up. Things will probably get worse before they get better.'

And then the fairy in the jumpsuit stepped out on to the tracks and waved to the one left on the platform. There was a shimmer, and then there was no one on the tracks.

The fairy in the headscarf descended the stairs, down into the city below.

**Haven City**

Haven was unusually quiet for the time of day when Holly stepped out of her apartment in her LEP uniform and the borrowed dress rolled in a bundle under her arm. The vendors along the street were conspicuously missing as she made her way down the road – on most days, there would be Clam selling his seaweed crunches and snacks, and Flora with her nettle smoothies.

Getting to Police Plaza was surprisingly easy, in light of the unrest that had spread throughout the city the night before, but Holly wasn't too bothered about it as she strolled down the main thoroughfares. There were less people to dodge, that was one good thing. And nobody was trying to throw things at her or blame her for something LEP had done – that was another good thing.

And yet…the fear and unease still hung in the air. She could almost feel, like the onset of a headache, an unfamiliar creeping sensation that one single action could shatter the peace and plunge Haven into total chaos.

_Paranoid_, she told herself. _Everything's okay today._

The walk to Police Plaza was uneventful. Nothing out of the ordinary. She was definitely being paranoid.

Trouble Kelp was waiting in his office for her when she knocked on the door. The commander appeared to have spent the night in the LEP headquarters; there were empty cups on his desk and the coffee pot was blackened with the amount of coffee he had made during the night.

'Morning, Captain,' he said as she stood before him. 'Still worried about being attacked?' He glanced at the bundle under her arm.

'I'm dropping it off during my shift,' she replied. 'Any missions today? Or should I get out and patrol with Traffic?'

'Pretty quiet above ground.' Trouble pushed aside various cups and sighed. 'I can't say the same for here though.'

'What happened?' There was a lump in her throat. _It's happening. _Her hands clenched themselves into fists.

Trouble pushed the handheld computer across the desk to her. 'Take a look. One of Foaly's boys just dropped this off. He's keeping it quiet, doesn't want the Council to know.'

She picked up the device, her hands cold with dread. The computer was playing a live feed from an officer's helmet, and it was showing a sight she had hoped never to see again since the B'wa Kell uprising.

The street was on fire. Shops, homes and nearly all the buildings were engulfed in flames. As she watched, a few fairies tossed flaming bottles down the street, narrowly missing a family with children running from the fire. LEP officers could be seen trying to get these fairies to stop, but without much success. The view was somewhat jerky; the officer was probably running to stop the flames or the fairies from hurting civilians.

'Molotov cocktails,' said Trouble gravely. 'Someone's been reading about Mud Men explosives.'

'There are humans involved?' she said, horrified. 'Artemis is innocent, Commander, he wouldn't do this –'

'I didn't say it was him.' Trouble held up a hand for silence. 'I just said there might be. Foaly and his techies are presently tracking any calls that point to any signs of communication with humans.'

'I should get out there, Kelp.' She put down the computer and backed away to the door. 'They can't handle it on their own –'

'Wait, Short. There's something else you have to see.'

She took up the computer again, reluctant to continue watching, but knowing she would have to. And there, among the dull green uniform of the LEP and various shapes of civilians…were the fairies in grey. Her eyes darted across the screen, following the movements of a slim figure in grey. The view of the figure was getting bigger – the officer evidently had the same idea in mind and was going up to the fairy to speak to him or her. Holly watched as the fairy held up a hand to cover his or her face from the camera's view and darted away.

'Those vigilantes again,' said Trouble. 'I've been watching them.'

'Why doesn't Foaly want the Council to know?' she asked, handing the computer to Trouble.

'Cahartez just declared them responsible for the shooting and the recent riots.' Trouble shrugged and turned off the computer. 'I can't say the same myself – they've been helping the LEP.'

'What about the rogue officers?'

'Didn't turn up, and we can't trace them.' Trouble drummed his fingers on the desk thoughtfully. 'It's not a coincidence that all this happened at the same time, I'm thinking. Someone must have known this would happen. Those vigilantes, for one. Why are they helping?'

'Mulch hasn't reported anything,' said Holly.

'Ah yes, Diggums. Got a call from him after you left.'

'Oh?' This was odd. Why hadn't Mulch called her before he phoned the commander? He wasn't on friendly terms with Kelp, as far as she knew.

'He found out something interesting about Merrick. Apparently the fairy was illegally trading in firearms. And not just firearms – we're talking LEP weapons and equipment as well.'

'But Foaly would know.'

'Ah, but here it is – we're talking about LEP weaponry headed to the recycling smelters. Or so we thought.'

She sat down in the only other chair in the office, speechless.

'Someone didn't want Merrick to squeal,' Trouble went on. 'So they murdered him. It's all looking clearer now – oh, and coincidentally, most of Merrick's bodyguards were ex-LEP officers. Interesting, isn't it?'

'What's going on?' Holly whispered. It felt as though the world had been pulled from under her feet, and she was free-falling to the centre of the Earth. This wasn't just criminals racketeering round Haven and causing a big mess – this was LEP itself, and they were supposed to be the ones to clear up the mess.

Trouble leaned towards her and winked. 'Best keep a lid on that, Short,' he said conspiratorially. 'Foaly's really careful about who we should trust at this moment, as he doesn't want any of those involved to get the idea that we know what's going on. I want you to go out there and join the patrols, but keep your eyes open. Report to me personally if you see anything that would help us. And be wary of who you talk to – there's no knowing if the officer is on our side or theirs.'

'Who said there has to be sides?' she said slowly. 'We're LEP.'

'Ah yes, we are, but you see, Captain Short, we think that someone in LEP planned this.'

'This is like the B'wa Kell rebellion, isn't it?'

'You could say that,' said Trouble, in his normal tone of voice. 'But this revolution would probably come from within the LEP itself, so to speak.'

'Us against our own.' Holly sat there, stunned. 'We need to get Artemis out of Atlantis, Trouble. He could help us think of ways…'

Her voice faded into silence as Trouble shook his head heavily.

'Holly,' he said, somewhat hesitantly, 'the Council decided that he would be mind-wiped and granted amnesty before he would be allowed to return home.'

And then there was the feeling – far worse than the world slipping away – that she had fallen past the rabbit-hole into a Wonderland of nightmares. The only thing she could do was to sit and stare blankly at Trouble with her mouth open. Which was what she did. There was nothing for her to say.

'He's innocent,' she said hoarsely, when she finally found her voice. 'He said so himself. You saw for yourself. It's wrong enough that he's in Atlantis, but to mind-wipe him _again_, after all he's done for us – it's – it's – it's not fair.'

'The Council's not taking any chances, Holly.' Trouble passed a hand over his eyes, not meeting her gaze. 'The evidence showed that he wasn't guilty, but they've decided not to risk it. And with Haven in chaos…they have to decide what's best for us, even if it means that Artemis Fowl is mind-wiped.'

'He _helped us!_ If it hadn't been for him and Butler, the B'wa Kell rebellion would have succeeded, and I wouldn't be sitting here right now talking to you! And – and – think about the other things he's done, for all of us, for Julius – '

Her voice broke into a sob as she dropped her head into her hands. Trouble stared at her, aghast.

'Holly,' he said gently, 'the Council is only doing what's best for us.'

'It's all politics,' she answered fiercely. 'You know it is.'

'Yes, but we can't do much about it now – there are fairies out there who need our help.'

'I could…I could go above ground,' she said, raising her head to look the commander in the eye. Her face had gone white, but there were no tears in her eyes. 'I could collect the evidence the Council needs and prove that he's not guilty. If you would just –'

'No.' Trouble stood up, pushing his chair back so violently that it fell over. 'No, you're not doing that.'

'You want me to find out more, and I'm doing this to help clear up the whole damn mess!'

'No, Holly, and that's my last order,' said Trouble immovably.

'But Trouble –' she pleaded.

'_Commander_, please, Captain. No means no. Now get yourself kitted up and get out there with the next patrol.'

'Commander, I really think Artemis doesn't deserve this.'

Trouble rounded on her, his face flushed with barely concealed emotion. 'You do what I say, Captain, and don't argue. Until I see fit for further evidence to be brought in, you will _not_ go above ground to obtain anything!'

Holly stared at him, shock leaving her temporarily wordless. This was _Trouble_, her friend since she joined Recon. Why couldn't he see how much this meant to her?

_And your commander,_ said a little voice amid her jumbled thoughts.

'Answer me, Captain!'

'Yessir.'

'And if you disobey my orders in any way, consider yourself out of LEP, you understand?'

'Yessir.'

'Get yourself out there – there're fairies in Haven, right here and now, who need you.'

'Yessir.'

'I don't like the look you're giving me, Captain. I have explicitly stated that you'll be booted out of LEP if you so much as put a toe above ground. Is that clear?'

'Yessir. Permission to speak, sir?'

'Go on then,' said Trouble, still fuming.

'I just want to say, sir, that you remind me of my former commander. He would've done the same as you in this crisis, sir.'

Trouble's face went through several expressions before it settled on awkward concern. 'Thank you, Captain,' he said gruffly. 'Anything else?'

'No sir.'

He caught the glint of tears in her eyes before she stood up and saluted to him.

'Holly!' he called, before he could register what he was going to do.

She stopped on her way to the door, her back to him.

'Permission to go above ground to obtain evidence granted, Captain. Now see that you're back with everything we need.'

She nodded, still refusing to turn around and face him.

'Don't do anything rash, Short. I'm not going to water your ferns for the next three years again. And I don't want to lose any of my officers today.'

'Yessir.'

The sound of her running feet echoed in the silent office moments after.

**Atlantis maximum security penitentiary**

Let the eye of the observer rest on the human boy lying on the bed in this particular cell.

The bed wasn't uncomfortable exactly – although it was far below the standard he was used to – but Artemis wasn't going to complain about it.

Lieutenant Shoal had gone off his shift hours ago; the gnome who had replaced him was a rather serious junior officer who saw no reason to speak to the prisoners. Artemis had watched him through the telescreen for half an hour before the gnome turned his back on the strange boy out of sheer embarrassment.

_It feels as though I've been here for days_, he mused. _I wonder what excuse Butler has told Mother to explain away my absence. I could say that I met an old friend at Tara and we were too engrossed in our observations to notice the time – but she knows…_

'Fowl?' said the officer from the telescreen.

Artemis sat up, facing the screen with a smile on his face. 'Yes, Corporal?'

'There's a visitor here to see you.' The officer disappeared from view, presumably to escort the visitor to the cells.

'Fowl?' said the visitor a few minutes later at his cell door. The officer remained in the walkway, where he watched the boy and his visitor intently.

Artemis stood up and smoothed his rather creased clothes. _Right on time_, he thought, moving to greet his visitor. 'Wing Commander Vinyáya, I presume?'

She didn't take his hand, but looked coolly at him instead. 'Councilwoman Vinyáya,' she corrected. 'You have been granted pardon by the Council and are free to go.'

He dropped his hand and nodded. 'And that is a precedent too, I take it?'

'I see that you are aware of our system,' she said. 'Perhaps you could tell me how we should proceed?'

'We would leave this place and you would escort me back to Haven, where I would be put on the earliest shuttle back to Ireland.'

Vinyáya smiled and shook her head. 'We could do that. Follow me, Fowl. There are some things I need to talk to you about.'

Artemis followed her out of the cell, with the Atlantis officer watching his every move. The occupant in the next cell had come to watch him go too.

He paused before the doorway to Opal's cell, despite Vinyáya's warning glance and the officer's frown. The pixie came to the wall, pounding soundlessly on the transparent polymer surface with her fists. Her shrieks couldn't be heard through the gap between the cells and the walkway, but Artemis could lip-read the words she was shouting to him.

'I'll get you, Fowl!' Opal yelled. Her eyes were livid with anger and madness. 'I'll get out of here and hunt you down!'

'I look forward to it,' he mouthed. It didn't matter that she couldn't hear him – Opal could read his lips as he read hers. She was driven into greater fury because of it, but she wasn't moving away from the wall all the same.

'I'll rip your guts out!' she screamed, chucking half a cardboard seahorse against the wall, where it rebounded off the hard surface and fell to pieces.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, unperturbed by her actions.

'We should leave soon,' Vinyáya murmured to him.

'_I'm a genius! Remember that, Fowl!_ _I am the greatest inventor the fairies ever had!_' Opal appeared to have lost all control of herself as she kicked two of her seahorses to bits and shrieked her head off. Her arch nemesis's early release from the Atlantis penitentiary seemed to have driven her off the edge into the deep blue sea.

'I'll see you later, Opal.' Artemis grinned and waved to her. 'Nice seahorses.'

'Come on,' Vinyáya said, taking his arm. 'We don't have time to gloat.'

* * *

**A/N: **Monorail stations in Kuala Lumpur have elevated platforms, built over the main roads in the city and usually within the busiest areas of KL.

Molotov cocktails - kids! Do not try this at home.

Any thoughts? Ideas? Mistakes in here that I should correct? The review button is right there...your thoughts will be appreciated muchly!


	14. Chapter 13: Many Meetings

Thanks for the feedback! :) Very much appreciated, it is.

To **bubbles**: Thanks for the reviews! =D I've always wondered how I was going to reply to them, seeing as I have no way of doing so on this site...the beta sends a big thank you, and loves the cookie you have given her!

**Disclaimer:** Eoin Colfer owns the characters and places.

* * *

Chapter 13: Many Meetings

**Fowl Manor, Ireland**

Holly perched on the ledge outside a window, scanning the room within with her helmet's functions. This was Artemis's study – she had been in there during the time Artemis lost the C Cube to Jon Spiro – and the years between had not changed much of the room. The room's owner seemed to like things remaining as they were.

The only thing that seemed out of place was the fact that there was no laptop or computer on the desk. Holly zoomed in closer for a better look, but there was nothing on the desk besides the neat piles of books and papers. The laptop couldn't be in Artemis's room – she hadn't seen it when she waited in there before taking him to Haven for the interrogation. His mobile phone was locked in his safe, she knew, but the laptop would probably hold more information than his phone might. Besides, with Foaly tracking calls on Sentinel, Artemis wouldn't risk using his phone to communicate with a fairy; he had the fairy phone after all.

He had mentioned that he didn't have it with him...

She took out her Omnitool and manipulated the catch of the window with it. So far so good. She pushed open the window slowly, despite the helmet's view showing that there was no one in the room, and dropped silently to the ground. She scanned the room once again before turning off her shield and taking the mechanical wings off her back.

Now to search the room...start with the desk. Artemis might have locked the laptop in a drawer – she didn't have much time before the Council went ahead with their decision and mind-wiped him for good.

_And then you'll lose another friend_, the thought whispered, flitting through her distracted mind. _Like how you lost Julius_.

Concentrate, concentrate on the task at hand. There was no time for her to brood over the loss of another friend. She knew she shouldn't even be here – Root would have prevented her from going above ground if he had been in Trouble's place. Her priority was protecting the People, the fairies in Haven who needed the LEP in this confusing time – she was going against what Root had always stood for, by selfishly leaving Haven to save a friend. A human friend.

_Not just any friend_, she thought as she rummaged through several drawers, with no success. _He's helped us so much_.

_You're not looking at the big picture, Holly_. The odd little voice was back again. Her conscience, it had said. _Think about the fairies you can help in Haven, just by doing your duty_.

The soft sound of the door closing made her look up from the drawer, before she ducked and rolled under the desk. There was a lady at the door, watching the elf with a strange smile on her face.

'Captain Short?' said Angeline Fowl, approaching the desk cautiously.

Holly laid a hand on her Neutrino, but stayed still, waiting for the lady to continue speaking. _She knows my name. What else has Artemis told her?_

'If you came here to obtain evidence to prove my son's innocence, I have them with me.' There was the sound of a chair being dragged across the carpet, and Angeline's feet came into view as she took a seat near the desk.

Holly raised her head, slowly, and backed out from under the desk. She stood up hesitantly and raised the visor of her helmet, meeting Angeline's curious gaze.

'How do you know my name?' asked the elf.

'I was forced to look into that insane pixie's memories when she possessed me,' Angeline explained, still watching Holly intently. 'And Artemis has filled in the gaps with what he was willing to tell.'

Holly swallowed, and then her lips curved involuntarily into a reluctant smile. 'You know quite a bit about me then.'

'Quite.' Angeline laid the laptop on the desk between them and gave it a push over the polished surface to Holly. 'I hope this helps.' She paused for a few moments, before taking out a BlackBerry from a pocket and placing it on the laptop. 'He doesn't use this much, but it might help.'

'Thank you.' Holly gathered the laptop and BlackBerry into her arms and dropped them into the backpack she had brought with her.

Angeline continued to watch her in the silence.

'I should be going back,' said Holly. But she made no move to leave.

Angeline leaned towards the elf on the other side of the desk.

'Tell me...Holly,' she said, 'what do you think about my son?'

_What do I think about him? _'He's...he's...' Holly stammered, quite unable to think of a suitable response. This was a completely unexpected question from Artemis's mother – she had rather thought that Angeline would demand for her son's immediate release – but not _this_.

'Quite a handful, isn't he?' Angeline laughed and shook her head ruefully. 'I hardly know what he does these days, and though he tries hard...there's always...I mean to say...'

'...there are still some things he won't tell you about?' Holly finished.

'Yes.' Angeline tilted her head and studied her son's friend before her. 'I take it that I'm not the only one who shares the same fate.'

'I trust him,' Holly said, softly. 'Even though, to be honest, he makes it difficult for me at times.'

'I thought as much.' Angeline rose from her seat. 'Pardon me for my manners, Holly, but I have a feeling that Artemis's time is rather limited, isn't it?'

'Oh – yes. I need to get back now and hand in the evidence.'

They smiled at each other, both understanding the things that the other had not said.

'I only have one thing to ask of you, Holly,' Angeline said, breaking the companionable silence, 'I want my son to return home soon – those years that he was gone was a nightmare. I hope you understand.'

'I promise I'll bring him back as soon as I can, Mrs. Fowl. I promised Butler the same thing too, actually. I'll bring Arty back the moment I can, I give you my word for it,' Holly assured her.

'I have to thank you for all you have done for Arty and my family,' said Angeline, extending a hand to the fairy. 'We owe so much to you and your colleagues.'

Holly shook the lady's hand and whispered, 'You're welcome.'

**Uncharted chute**** between Haven City and Atlantis**

'Tell me, Fowl,' said Vinyáya, as she steered the shuttle down the chute on the way to Haven City, 'what were you planning to do if the Council had not granted you the pardon?'

'I would have filed for a writ of habeas corpus,' Artemis replied, turning to look at the elf from the co-pilot's seat. 'Fairy law allows that, so I've read.'

Vinyáya shook her head and chuckled. 'They told me you were smart, Fowl, but that was the best you could come up with?'

'That was one of the options. I had several others.'

She shrugged and flicked a few switches on the shuttle's control. 'I suppose with that intelligence of yours, you could come up with quite a few.'

'Thank you. And I have a question to ask you too, Councilwoman Vinyáya.'

'Commander, please. Ask away.'

'It surprises me that you personally came to Atlantis to inform me about the pardon.' He steepled his fingers and observed her closely. 'If I didn't know better, Commander, I would think that the pardon wasn't granted at all in the first place.'

Vinyáya remained silent for several minutes as she navigated the shuttle through a particularly tricky stretch of the chute. Once the shuttle had emerged from the stretch, however, she switched the shuttle on auto-pilot and swiveled her seat around to face the boy.

'So what do you think I did, Fowl?' she asked.

'You were one of the two Council members who voted against my detainment in Atlantis,' he said. 'If I may make a guess, I would say that you acted on your own for my release.' He smiled and added, 'There was no pardon, but you used your authority to secure an early release for me without the Council's knowledge. However, I may be wrong on that.'

'You're not wrong.'

'That _is_ surprising, Commander. Would you care to tell me why?'

Vinyáya's forehead creased into a frown. 'I asked myself if it was right for you to be detained in Atlantis while we sort this mess out, and I came to the conclusion that we've underestimated you by doing that. There's no knowing what you might do once you've been released – you may be a friend to us, Fowl, but by doing this, we may have violated our side of the tacit agreement we have.'

'I see. And I take it that you know who is responsible for the chaos in Haven?'

'Ah, you're quick. Yes, I do know. That's what I need to talk to you about,' said Vinyáya. 'You were dragged unknowingly into it after we got the message from you. A strange one, if I may say so myself, as it went against everything you have done for the People over the years. I looked further into it, not trusting the evidence we have against you, and managed to find out quite a bit on my own. I didn't doubt that you were not guilty, right from the start. But I had my reasons for not telling the Council too much about what I had found out.'

Artemis nodded thoughtfully, processing what the elf had said to him. 'So the Council saw what they wanted to see. A very likely mistake.'

'And a convenient one,' said Vinyáya. 'Before I came to Atlantis, they voted to mind-wipe you, in exchange for your release and amnesty for your supposed involvement in the murders and unrest in Haven. I knew I had to act quickly before they could decide anything more for you.'

'The question I do have to ask, Commander, is why are you doing this for me? Why not take it straight to the Council itself and release me according to the rules?'

'Funny you should say that,' Vinyáya remarked dryly. 'Artemis Fowl doesn't play by the rules all the time, if I remember correctly.'

'Very true,' he said, inclining his head in agreement. 'But it doesn't explain your – shall I say – somewhat baffling actions.'

'You'll find out soon enough,' said Vinyáya, guiding the shuttle to a gradual stop as they entered a terminal. 'I need your co-operation on this, Fowl. I want to see the mess in Haven cleared up before anyone gets hurt, and if that's to happen very soon, you would need to stay a while below ground before I allow you to return home.'

'Fair enough,' he replied.

'Good.' The shuttle finally stopped, and Vinyáya leapt lightly out of her seat. 'With all haste, Fowl. Time waits for no man.' She pressed the switch to open the shuttle doors. 'And no fairy too.'

The terminal was sparsely lit and shabby, unlike the ones Artemis had previously seen in his other journeys below ground. Another unusual thing was the fact that there were no other shuttles in the terminal, besides the one he and Vinyáya had traveled in from Atlantis. The place looked as though it had not been used for quite some time. The cracked columns with peeling paint stretching away into the darkness pointed to the terminal's construction in much earlier days, compared to the more modern ones he had been to. The disused signs suspended above added to the impression – he recognized most of the words in Gnommish, but there were some that he had never encountered before; they looked archaic, long fallen from everyday use among the fairies.

Vinyáya was a dim figure on the stairs leading up to the exit, her silver hair glowing faintly in the gloom. Artemis hurried to keep up with her as she took the steps two at a time.

'Are we in Haven, Commander?' he managed to ask between gasps as he ran up the stairs. Running was – as he was again painfully aware at this moment – definitely not his forte.

Vinyáya hardly slowed as she leapt nimbly up the next flight of steps. 'On the outskirts of Haven,' she said over her shoulder. 'This terminal is in the Old Quarter – you'll see it in a bit. Hurry up, Fowl.'

He nodded and followed her up the stairs, his eyes fixed on the light he could see above him.

* * *

_**A very Merry Christmas to everyone! :D**_


	15. Chapter 14: To the Lighthouse

Two updates this time! It's Christmas, after all ;)

To the beta - you know, I admire your patience in not hitting me over the head whenever I get stressed out over this fic. (I'm very mengedikkan, kan?)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything! Colfer does.

* * *

Chapter 14: To the Lighthouse

**Boulevard of Kings, Haven City**

Haven was, to put it mildly, bedlam.

Holly had come straight on patrol after passing the laptop and BlackBerry to Foaly. The centaur had given her a rather weary look and had shaken his head.

'This isn't enough, Holly,' he had said. 'The Council had every right to decide to mind-wipe him. Artemis would get home unharmed, in exchange for having his memories of us erased, and neither side would have any reason to take revenge for everything that has happened.'

'I don't want him to forget us,' she had replied quietly. 'He's done so much for us.'

'You have to think about the People before you worry too much about Artemis, Holly.'

And she had shrugged and left the Ops Booth without saying what she wanted. There were some things that she could never put into words to tell her friends, Foaly included. This was one of them.

The barricades were all up along the Boulevard of Kings, while the crunchball stadium across the road was filled with families who had fled their burning homes elsewhere in the city. LEP officers patrolled the area in twos and threes, but their various Neutrinos and weapons were nowhere to be seen. Orders from higher up had specifically stated that all guns were to be left in the LEP HQ for checks, and officers on patrol had to content themselves with their standard-issue buzz batons.

_It's quite reasonable really_, Holly thought, passing the stadium for the fourth time that day, _guns would just make people all the more edgy_.

And edgy they were. She could hear the low hum of activity within the stadium, where officers stood guard over the fairies who had sought refuge in there. But underneath the muffled bustle and talk from within, she could detect the undercurrent of nervous tension among the fairies. One more incident, one more riot, and then they might just snap – and who knew what might happen after that?

Civilians eyed her from behind their barricades, muttering among themselves as they watched the officers patrol the street in front of them. Holly caught glimpses of miscellaneous household items in the gaps between the barricades; there was a mop there, even a meat cleaver, and – Frond help her – an antique gun powered by solar cells that she recognized as a 19th-century Sunshooter. They had taken to using everyday items as weapons in self-defense – she wondered uneasily if magic could heal a blow from a pair of gardening shears. She hoped so.

_Hold it._ She stopped in her tracks, feeling the hair rising on her neck. _Turn around slowly. _Her hand went to her holster for the Neutrino, casually, but the gun was missing. _D'Arvit_.

The dart punctured the skin under her ear before she could so much as turn on her heel. She heard, through the haze that crept over her consciousness, the catcalls and jeers from the fairies behind the barricade. Nobody was going to help her – maybe they had even done this to her – what would happen next –

Voices. Someone was standing over her.

'Officer!'

Holly looked up blearily at the female gnome beside her. There was a bright flowered apron tied around the gnome's waist – this wasn't LEP then. Oh. Good. If only someone could –

Holly felt hands lifting her up from the hard asphalt of the pavement, hands bearing her on to a stretcher. And then she caught voices – male ones, this time – of officers speaking to the gnome. She hoped the LEP medics would get to her in time; the sedative in the dart might be harmless, but she really didn't want to be unconscious for the rest of the day. Or it might not be. She fervently hoped it was the former.

Then her sight turned dark, and all sounds were extinguished as she slipped into unconsciousness.

**The Old Quarter, Haven City**

'Interesting,' Artemis remarked, as he and Vinyáya headed down one of the streets in the Old Quarter.

'Yes, Fowl?' said Vinyáya impatiently, half-jogging some way in front of him. She was in a hurry to get to where they needed to be, but this infuriating boy was taking his time to see the sights. If she didn't need to get him to a safe place now, she would have given him a good kick right in the – well, somewhere painful, to get her point across clearly. But then if she _did _kick him, then she would have to drag him to where she was heading, so maybe that wouldn't be a good idea. For now, at least.

'Were these buildings part of old fairy cities?' he asked, waving a hand at a particularly imposing one they were passing.

'Copied from them, actually.' Vinyáya turned to look over her shoulder, sighing loudly. 'Could you please try to keep up?'

He nodded and made an effort to keep up with her.

The Old Quarter of Haven was – like its name – one of its older regions, built in the days when the fairies first headed underground to escape the Mud Men. Someone then had a bright idea to copy the architecture and designs of fairy cities around the world and give them new life in the buildings in Haven. Many fairy cities had long since fallen and had been destroyed over the centuries, and the only record of their vague history and culture could be seen in the buildings within the Old Quarter. Unfortunately though, within the past three centuries or so, many fairies had moved out of the Old Quarter into the heart of Haven City itself, as this particular region was close to the surface and had come under threat of detection several times due to human mining and drilling. A few still remained, especially fairies whose families had lived here for time out of mind, but for the most part, this place was falling into disrepair and oblivion.

'These are from Ys, aren't they?' Artemis ventured to ask as they turned into a new street.

'What?' Vinyáya slowed a little and followed his gaze. The buildings along this street had carvings of sea creatures and mermaids on their facades and columns, and some had faded murals on their walls. 'Oh yes, you guessed right. Atlantis wasn't the only fairy city at sea.'

She came to a stop midway along the street. They were in front of the tallest building in the street – it was a somewhat narrow affair, with sheer walls and very few windows. Artemis could barely make out the top of the building in the gloom; the sun strips in the Old Quarter had not been replaced for decades. There appeared to be a glass observatory at the top of the building.

'A lighthouse?' he said, amused.

'We fairies came up with the idea before you humans were sailing in ships,' Vinyáya explained. 'You lot borrowed quite a few ideas from us, really. Ys was an important fairy port in its heyday, and this is a smaller replica of the one the city had.' She paused before the door of the lighthouse and surveyed the street behind her.

'I see – '

Vinyáya held up a finger to her lips and shook her head in warning.

'Visitor with me,' she enunciated clearly to the peephole in the door. 'Code Alpha Three V.' She brought her eye to the peephole and peered through the lens for several moments.

There was a click, and the door swung open soundlessly. Vinyáya gestured at the boy to step through first, before she followed him into the room within the lighthouse and shut the door.

'Lights!' she called to no one. Or, as Artemis guessed, no one he could see.

A single fluorescent bulb in the room flickered alight.

'Follow me, Fowl,' Vinyáya said, heading through a door opposite the one they had come through. 'And please keep quiet – I don't know if she's disabled the security measures yet.'

He raised his eyebrows at her but wisely kept silent as he followed her further into the lighthouse. Vinyáya was on her knee beside a patch of the floor that didn't look any different from the rest.

'One wrong move, Fowl,' she said, 'and you'll walk out of here in pieces.' She bent down and touched a knot in the bare floorboards with her right index finger. There was a pause, and then she stood up as a square of the floor dropped down without a sound.

'Go on.' She jerked her head at the gap in the floor, through which Artemis could see steps leading downwards. 'You first.'

He stepped onto the first stair, wondering if he was being tricked by this elf. Holly had spoken about her at times and appeared to be on good terms with her Wing Commander, but the security measures seemed out of place in this forgotten part of Haven.

'Look, I don't have all day, you know,' Vinyáya said wryly, tapping his shoulder. 'Go on. If I had meant any harm to you, I would have killed you when I got you out of Atlantis.'

Vinyáya had a point. Artemis descended the rest of the steps, eyes straining to make out the room below. It was just one underground passage leading to a dead end, with naked bulbs strung above to light the way.

The hatch closed as Vinyáya left the last step. She went to the first door on their right and placed a hand on the scan pad on the wall.

'Confirmation please,' said a voice when the scan was completed.

'Pink porcupines,' Vinyáya replied without a trace of humour.

The door clicked and swung open, just like the first one they had come through. The large room within was lit with the bright glow of several compact light bulbs and humming computers.

'Iris?' Vinyáya shut the door behind Artemis and pointed at a chair nearby. 'Have a seat,' she told him, heading past the computers in search of someone.

Artemis sat down, scrutinizing some of the computers near him. In terms of fairy technology, these would be considered ancient. All that security for some old computers? It seemed hardly necessary.

'Hey!' someone yelled from behind a jumble of wires across the room, 'I was eating that!'

'I brought the Fowl boy,' said Vinyáya. 'Want to meet him?'

There was a loud happy gurgle and the sound of a chair falling over. 'Oh D'Arvit it – did you _really_? I can't believe it!'

'Iris…'

A fairy came skipping out from behind the computers, grinning madly as she bounded over to the surprised boy near the door. The next thing Artemis knew, his hand was being shaken vigorously by the elf/pixie hybrid as she chattered away non-stop. He stared in bemusement at the shock of pink- and purple-striped hair before his eyes.

Artemis Fowl, as has been said before, rarely went out of his way to meet people. His social life wasn't what you would call a terribly exciting one, and as such, it could be said that he did not meet persons like this fairy on many occasions. The only person he had ever seen with such a bad dye job was Billy Kong.

This one might just have topped Kong's, possibly. The clashing colours assaulted his sight and artistic sensibilities, but Artemis – oddly enough – chose not to comment. Perhaps he was too stunned to make a smarmy comment. That didn't happen very often.

'It's a girl's name, isn't it?'

He caught the question among the other things she had yakked about. 'It is,' he said coldly.

'I'm Iris,' said the fairy, still shaking his hand enthusiastically. 'Iris Moonlove. Glad to meet you. Ohmigosh, I can't believe you're _here_!'

'She's been looking forward to meeting you,' said Vinyáya, a trifle unnecessarily. 'Said there's only so many geniuses she can meet.'

'And you beat Foaly years ago, during that time you kidnapped Holly Short!' Iris was saying as she released his hand and skipped dizzily on the spot. 'Pure _genius_!'

'It's all in the past now,' said Artemis, a little stiffly.

'Yeah, and now you're good friends with _us_.' Iris beamed at him, before she skipped away behind the computers, humming to herself.

'Bit of a handful, that one,' said Vinyáya, shrugging. 'But she's good with the computers.'

'They're way behind time though,' Artemis remarked, scrutinizing the computers critically for the second time. 'Foaly would have them recycled immediately.'

Vinyáya laughed and shook her head. 'Fowl, you still don't see it, don't you?'

'If you would care to explain then, Commander?'

Vinyáya swung herself on to the table beside him and smiled knowingly. 'Has Holly told you about the vigilantes the LEP is looking for?'

'Yes. Apparently one of them was at the location of the first murder.'

'Ah, good, it makes things easier. Did you have any guesses as to who they were?'

Artemis crossed his arms and surveyed the elf. 'I guessed that they either had connections with LEP officers, or they were the officers themselves. Elementary, really.'

'Good. So you know why you're here?'

'You're one of the vigilantes themselves.' Artemis chuckled and went on, 'And you're the one responsible for this little group, am I right?'

'You're right.' Vinyáya swept her long silver hair into a tight bun and secured it with a pencil she picked up from the table. 'Now tell me why I'm doing this.'

'Section Eight was merged into the LEP after the return of Hybras,' Artemis replied, watching Vinyáya's face closely. 'You knew something that we – or Foaly and the rest – didn't. You knew about the current crisis in Haven before events happened.'

'Bingo.' Vinyáya slid off the table and headed to the door. 'And now Iris will fill you in with the rest. I need to get back to Haven – the rest of the group's trying to sort things out, while I need to head back to Police Plaza to find out more.' She turned to look at him, her hand on the door. 'You're probably wondering why Holly isn't part of this.'

'Yes.'

'You'll know,' she said, pulling open the door. 'In time.'

Iris popped out from behind a row of computers when she heard the door click shut. 'She's gone eh, Arty boy?'

'Yes.' He got up from his seat and went over to the computers, itching to find out more about them. This crazed fairy was good with computers, so Vinyáya said. He wondered how good Iris was. 'And call me Artemis, everyone does.'

'It's a _girl_'s name,' she said, winking. 'Arty's more, you know, _manlier_.'

'I earned that name – Artemis the hunter,' he said absently, running his hand over the keyboards. The Gnommish letters on the keys were almost faded away with heavy use. He tapped a few keys experimentally, watching as symbols and graphs popped up on the screens.

'Hey hey, watch it.' Iris slapped his hands away and shooed him back to the front of the room. 'These babies may be old, my boy, but the programs I have on them are not. So get your Mud Man hands off them, d'you hear me?'

'I happen to be one of the few humans who understand fairy technology,' he retorted testily. 'As you wish, Miss Moonlove. Doubtless your noble work would progress wonderfully without the interference of one of the few people who fully understand your systems.'

Iris rolled her eyes and leaned down to jam a twist of fibre optics into a port. 'Look, Arty boy, I'm not insulting you. I really wanted to meet you. What is it with you geniuses and your big heads?' She snorted and tapped various keys on one of the keyboards. 'Foaly, and you, and that Koboi psycho – I'm not trying to be mean, but does genius _always_ have to come with a big baggage of unwanted arrogance?' She flashed him an apologetic smile and banged one of the monitors impatiently. 'No offense meant though.'

'You've met the others then?' he said, still a little cool.

'Oh yeah, at different times. Koboi was pretty sweet when I interviewed her for my college paper, but, you know, she was a bit freaky.' Iris rotated a finger beside her head and gave a theatrical shudder. 'Those damn boots – they're _hideous_. Oh and Foaly – he's my idol – but he _was_ a wee bit too much when I tried to ask him about his latest inventions.' She glanced darkly at the screens and tapped a few more keys. 'I mean, he's paranoid and all, but there was no need to insult a kid just because she was training to be a Retrieval jock.'

'You're LEP?' asked Artemis, privately wondering why no one had caught her and given her head a good shave. Holly's hair didn't seem out of place among her colleagues, due to the fact that she had always had a buzz cut, but Iris's would probably cause a few headaches. Not to mention the fact that she would fail at stealth if she ever went above ground on a mission.

'Dropped out.' Iris banged another monitor, scowling at it. 'I joined to please my old dad – he was Retrieval, before his accident – but I hated it. The guys in the LEP Academy made my life hell, but that was before I found out how good I was.' She grinned and waggled a finger at Artemis. 'They used to call me the next Holly Short, in fact.'

'Have you met her?' Artemis was intrigued. Holly didn't talk much about her days before she became an LEP officer, and he didn't exactly ask. There were too many things to talk about, besides. And Holly was unusually reserved when it came to her past – it held too many painful memories for her.

'Nope,' Iris replied, shaking her head. 'I want to, though. Vinyáya talks quite a bit about her.' She gave Artemis a shrewd look. 'You're probably wondering if I was supposed to follow in Short's footsteps, didn't you? First Recon captain and everything.'

'Well go on then.' He took a length of fibre optics from the table beside him and jimmied it into the nearest hard drive. Iris appeared not to notice what he had done.

'I had an awesome left hook.' Iris held up a fist and punched the air playfully. 'It served me well in crunchball. Ah, those were the days. The boys got scared after I knocked out about five of them. Your girlfriend was pretty good too, according to –'

'Holly Short,' said Artemis quietly, 'is not my girlfriend.'

A short beep from the computers interrupted their conversation. Iris turned back to the screens, the smile vanishing from her face. She clicked on the message icon that had popped up, opening the window for the video call.

'Iris,' said Vinyáya, 'just got the call from Bloom. Holly Short's been kidnapped. I need her location ASAP.'

'Yessir.' Iris's fingers clicked and clacked over the next two keyboards, calling up new files and images on the other screens. 'I'll send the files over to you and the rest.'

'Good. Make sure the Fowl boy's safe, Iris.'

'Yep, got that.'

Vinyáya's window went black as she ended the call.

'Holly's been kidnapped.' Artemis stared at the images that were popping up at a dizzying rate on the screens. 'Can you track her?'

'Worried about your girlfriend, Arty boy?' said Iris, smiling grimly as she went through window after window. 'Damn these comps – my kingdom for _holograms_!'

'She's just a friend,' he said, coming to stand beside her. 'I can help.'

'Yeah, she's not your girlfriend and I didn't see you trying to sabotage my computers.' Iris pushed a keyboard to him and nudged him into a chair. 'There you go. Her signal'll be flagged red. If you see pink or orange, it's probably similar signals. Check on them too, see if there's any possible interference.' She left him by the computers and bounded over to another row. 'Now let's see if Foaly would let me take a peep into his systems.'

Artemis smirked as his fingers flew over the Gnommish keyboard. The first window his eye fell on had about thirty different signals in varying shades of red.

_I hope Holly's all right_, he thought, starting to work his way through the signals.

* * *

**A/N:** Iris Moonlove. Not sure where she came from - she walked into the story, took over the dialogue and was determined to annoy Artemis in any way possible. I can only hope she doesn't turn into a Mary Sue. =S

The name 'Moonlove' is from Hope Mirrlees' novel, _Lud-in-the-Mist_.

The legend of Ys can be read in more detail on Wikipedia; Atlantis wasn't the only city that was destroyed by the sea!

Would love to hear your thoughts on this new OC and the recent developments!


	16. Chapter 15: Digging In

Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys!

To **bubbles:** Thank you for the review! Iris in the story worries me a bit, as I've never written an OC in my fics before - glad you like her! Hope she turns out all right. :) Message from the beta here: _Thank you, bubbles! I agree with you on betas needing more love - we're an unappreciated lot, we are. Huh, think you're the only one who should get the credit, Miss Cendol? :P  
_

**Disclaimer:** Me owning anything in the Fowl fandom - you no can haz Artemis, Cendol. Colfer owns him, he does.

* * *

Chapter 15: Digging In

**Haven City**

Holly woke up lying on her side, her hands bound behind her back. On the floor. In a shuttle. With an LEP officer standing guard over her.

She raised her head and tried to lever herself up on her elbow, without much success. The officer leaned towards her from the co-pilot's seat and grinned as he watched her struggle to sit up.

'Need help, Captain?' he said, waggling his fingers at her. 'Can't touch female officers, so I've heard. You said so yourself eh?'

'Private Bumble, isn't it?' She gritted her teeth and managed to flip herself onto her back. 'Thanks, I can manage on my own.' She sat up and glared at him.

'I would've given a hand if you'd ask.' The private ran a hand through his rather oily hair and gave a smile that was supposed to look flirty, but it came out looking as though he was trying not to squint.

'Watch it, Private.' She rubbed her wrist on the edge of the other, hoping to melt the plastic with the magical sparks that would heal the welt. _D'Arvit_, she realized, feeling the sparks snake over her skin uselessly, _Perspex_. There was no wound, no cut, as the cuffs had no sharp edges to break the skin.

'I'm watching, Holly,' he said, still trying to smile in a charming manner, and utterly failing to achieve anything besides irritating the female captain further.

'Look, Bumble, tell me what's going on and maybe I won't punch your lights out when I get out of these.' She managed to totter up and collapse into the nearest passenger seat. 'Explain this.'

'Orders, Cap.' Bumble wiped his hand on the front of his jumpsuit and pretended to look cowed. 'I'm just doing my duty, Cap. Was told to watch you, Cap, so you won't escape. Not safe out there, Captain Short.' He snorted and laughed meanly. 'You'll be out soon enough, Cap.'

'Who gave the orders?'

'Can't say, Short, can't say,' he said, shaking his head and sighing loudly. 'Top secret. How would I know anyway, being a private and all? I'm just a low ranker.'

'You won't even have a rank when I'm done with you.'

'Oh yes? Not with things going as they are, _Captain_. Once you're out of here, Holly, you'll be the one without a rank,' he said, narrowing his eyes. 'I, on the other hand, would expect to see some sort of promotion. Yes, a promotion would be in order.'

'Who's doing this, Bumble?' she demanded.

'My lips are sealed, Short. Now sit there and be quiet, or I might have to take measures to – ah – prevent you from escaping.' He took out his buzz baton and twirled it between his fingers. 'In any way I can.'

**Ys Street, the Old Quarter, Haven City**

'There!' Iris jabbed one of the screens with an inky finger and crowed with delight. 'Got her!'

'You've found Holly?' said Artemis, abandoning his keyboard and hurrying over to Iris. 'Where is she?'

'Here.' Iris pressed a finger on the flashing red dot, leaving an ink blotch on the screen. 'That's the closest match I can get to her signal, since the silly pony didn't let me in through a side door.'

'Where is she, exactly?' he asked. The red dot pulsed urgently on the screen, not moving. Was Holly still conscious? Was she even – no, don't think about that. Concentrate on finding her first.

'Coming…right…up.' Iris pounded the keyboard and gave the hard drive under the table a vicious kick. 'Damn these comps! Running slow running slow running slow – oh _come on_!'

The screen had frozen, with the red dot a bright spot on the grey map of Haven. Iris gave the monitor a good whack. For luck, she gave the rest of the monitors beside it a thumping with the palms of her hands.

The red dot started pulsing again. Artemis exhaled a breath he had not known he was holding.

'Right, that's somewhere in…eh Frondy – that's the old dwarf mines.' Iris screwed up her eyes and leaned towards the screen. 'Service tunnels were collapsed twenty years ago when the dwarfs packed up and left. You can't get a shuttle to get in there after the access tunnels and roads were sealed up when the mines closed down. So how did she get _in_ there?'

'Do you think…' Artemis swallowed the lump that had risen in throat and tried again. 'Can you check her condition?'

'Nope.' Iris tried a few keys, but nothing happened. 'Hacking into Foaly's system didn't work, and _he_ has the info on all the officers' vital stats. I need to get in there.' She stroked her chin thoughtfully and made a face. 'There is a way though…'

'And what would that be?' he said, as the dot continued to pulse without moving. One second, two seconds, three…

'You're friends with him.' Iris gave him an imp – no, she wasn't an imp – _elfxish_ grin and grabbed his shoulder. 'Get in there and tell him you need his help.'

'I'm supposed to be in Atlantis,' he pointed out. 'The LEP would get me first before I even reach Police Plaza.'

'Er…Fowl? Haven't you heard?'

'Heard what?' he snapped. Time was running out for Holly – how long could she last in an abandoned dwarf mine without help? And there was no way in or out of there –

'I'm supposed to tell you,' said Iris sheepishly. 'See, thing is, Vinyáya has an idea that the LEP's doing this. They're the ones responsible for the murders and everything.'

'And they threatened me and my family too?' said Artemis, his eyebrows threatening to meet his hairline.

'Er…yeah. Kinda messy, isn't it? But…yeah. They started all this – the murders, the riots, your message, so you'd get imprisoned in Atlantis…not a very nice plan, is it?'

'She knew.' Artemis turned to look over his shoulder, at the computers arranged round the room. He craned his neck to look over the row of computers beside to him – there was a table behind the row, with weaponry and equipment in neat piles upon the surface of the table. 'She knew all this was going to happen. Why didn't she stop it?'

'I've been trying to get her to explain for _months_,' Iris said, rolling her eyes. 'But she doesn't want to say. Lately she's been a bit quiet too, you know, since you came back from Hybras with your girlfriend and those demons…'

But Artemis was not paying attention to Iris. _She knew and she didn't stop it_, he was thinking, as he walked over to the table with the weaponry. _She could have stopped this and she didn't. And now Holly's kidnapped and I – we – don't know how to get to her, or help her. Vinyáya knew all about this and she didn't stop it_.

'Hey hey, don't mess with those guns, Arty boy,' said Iris nervously, as he picked up an old Neutrino and flicked through the settings. 'Those can kill; I've seen them in action.'

'Are you the vigilantes who've been helping the LEP?' he said calmly, putting down the Neutrino and picking up another. 'You got the wrong person in Merrick's murder.'

'Yeah…er…Vinyáya's still annoyed about that.' Iris edged towards the door, dragging a swivel chair with her. 'I'd put those guns down if I were you…'

'Are you really who you say you are?' Artemis went on, checking the third gun. He hadn't seen this model before, but the business end looked nasty. Iris ducked behind the chair as he fiddled with the settings.

'I haven't tried to kill you, have I?' she said, backing up against the door in a half-crouch behind the chair. 'Put the _damn gun down, _Artemis!'

'How can I believe you?' he said, smiling humorlessly as he aimed the gun at the practice dummy at the far end of the room. 'Vinyáya might have brought me here to keep me quiet. And then get rid of me when all this is over.'

'Oh, come on!' Iris called from behind the chair. 'I'm trying to save your girlfriend and you're worried that you've been tricked!'

'I never allow myself to be tricked.'

'Fine, d'you know what? You can stay there and play your stupid arrogant genius act, but I'm not going to care. I'm going to sit in front of the computers here and do what I have to do. You can shoot my brains out, if you like, to protect yourself, but I don't care.' Iris kicked the chair over to the computers and plonked herself down in front of the screen displaying Holly's location. 'Go on, Fowl. Do your worst. I've heard what you can do.'

'I'm not going to,' he said, his smile widening. He put the gun down and left the table. 'Do proceed with your search for Holly.'

'Huh!' Iris tossed her head and pulled about three keyboards towards her. 'Anything for your girlfriend eh, Arty boy?'

'My name,' he said, his hand drifting almost on its own accord back to the table, 'is Artemis.'

Iris caught the look in his eye and nodded quickly. 'Yeah. Artemis. Got it.'

**Boulevard of Kings, Haven City**

_I could have prevented this_. Vinyáya leaned against the front of a shop, hand clutching her aching side as she tried to get her breath back. _I could have stopped this all from happening, and nobody would be hurt needlessly._

Crowds of Haven residents passed before her, terrified and angry with the recent attacks on their homes and shops just down the road from where she was. They were heading to the nearest stadium or public building they could reach – but not the police station though, because nobody was putting their trust in the police to help them. How could they, when the LEP themselves were the ones who had started this?

But there were also LEP who were trying to clear up the mess…

_Like Holly Short. She was only trying to do what's right, and look where that got her._

Vinyáya bent over with her hands on her knees, struggling to get her breath back.

'Commander?' said Iris's voice in her ear. 'I've got Holly Short's location. Should I forward the message over to the rest?'

Vinyáya glanced at the com screen on her wrist and came to a decision.

'I'll get right back to you. Call the others back.'

'But V –'

'Do it, Iris.'

'Yessir.'

**Ys Street**

Artemis watched silently from a corner as the rest of the group streamed into the room in twos and threes. They were all clad in grey, just as Holly said, but they had weapons with them this time. Mostly older models of Neutrinos or guns he had not seen before in all his years dealing with the fairies. Vinyáya must have pulled a lot of strings to get the equipment.

'This is Bloom,' said Iris, dragging a gnome over. 'He saw Holly knocked out with a dart, and then the LEP medics bundled her off to who knew where. He's – er – what you would call the eyes and ears of this little club.'

'Artemis Fowl?' the gnome said, shaking the boy's hand. 'Glad to meet you. I heard your message.'

'It wasn't me,' he said, as Bloom gave him an appraising look. 'I do wonder if it was an LEP officer though. It seems likely.'

'With things as they are, I have to agree with you.' Bloom gave him a nod and walked away.

'Any updates?' said Vinyáya, bursting through the door with her hair falling out of her bun. 'Iris! Where is Short? Is there any way we can get to her without the LEP knowing?'

'She's in the dwarf mines off Liquorice Hill, V,' said Iris, steering the older elf to the right screen. 'There, that's her. She hasn't moved since I locked onto her signal. That's half an hour ago.'

'What about the LEP records?' asked Vinyáya, bending over the screen, anxiety in her face. 'Those mines were closed long ago.'

'Yep, exactly. And the access tunnels were blasted and sealed. I checked in the City Hall records. Foaly isn't letting me in _anywhere_.'

'Which means that we'd have to get there and rescue Holly without knowing what's going on there.' Vinyáya frowned and tugged at the stray locks of hair framing her face. 'This is not good. We need everyone out on the streets – I was thinking that we should get to the outer suburbs and work our way in towards the main areas under attack.'

'We don't have enough people as it is, V,' someone spoke up from the other side of the room. 'We had a hard time just trying to get people out of their streets.'

'Yes, yes, I know that, Rook,' said Vinyáya. She turned to face the room, her expression grave. 'So we have to decide where we have to go first.'

'If I may make a suggestion, Commander?' said Artemis.

'Go on, Fowl.'

'I know someone who would know what to expect in the dwarf mines,' he continued. 'One of the best fairies in the tunneling business, from my experience.'

'And who might that be?'

'Mulch Diggums.'

'Diggums,' said Vinyáya thoughtfully. 'I suppose we could use his help.'

'You can trust Diggums, Commander. I'm sure he wouldn't like to see his ex-PI partner meet an untimely end in a dwarf mine.'

'I trust you, Artemis.' Vinyáya sighed and pointed to Iris. 'But I want _you_ to check on Diggums, all the same.'

'Yessir.'

The rest of the group drifted towards to the part of the room behind in the computers, with Vinyáya in the lead. Muffled conversations could be heard from the weapons table as Vinyáya went over the next plans with the rest while they replenished their supplies or replaced their guns. Artemis caught his name several times, but Vinyáya appeared to have washed her hands of anything to do with him.

'So what do you call yourselves?' he asked Iris instead, as she searched for information on Mulch. 'You can try looking in the LEP criminal records – he was one of their most popular convicts in the past.'

Iris giggled and did as he told her. 'Not bad, this guy. Oh, Vinyáya was all about calling us some mysterious name, like Havenites or the Frond Keepers or something. But _my_ suggestion trumped all of hers.'

'Yeah? What was it?' said Artemis, amused with the cheeky look on Iris's face. It reminded him of a certain elf's when she was spouting off snarky comments.

'I said we should call ourselves…' Iris paused dramatically and held up two fingers in a V. 'V,' she declared in a mock serious tone.

Artemis chuckled at that. 'So you're known as V? And the commander's called the same too?'

'Yep. And our group chant goes like this.' Iris took a deep breath and reeled off with gusto, 'What do we V do? V keep the peace! Why do V do this? V care! What does Haven need? V! And who are V? V are!'

Artemis burst into laughter. It had been a long time since he had laughed this much, and this wasn't the right time for it, but Iris's cheerfulness was catching.

'Eh, you're loosening up now,' said Iris, turning back to the computers. 'Most people here don't get my jokes – they're so _boring_. They don't even laugh when I tell them the one about Venus and her cup of cocoa.'

That wiped the grin off Artemis's face. 'I haven't heard that one,' he said cautiously.

Then again, not many people made jokes to a certain teenage genius.

'Yeah? You haven't?' Iris shrugged and smirked to herself. 'See, it goes like this: What do you call Venus when she has a cup of chocolate in the nude?'

'Iris,' said Vinyáya, coming up to them and giving the younger fairy's ear a tweak, 'I need to meet Diggums before I get out with the rest. Call him up, quickly.'

'Will do, V.'

'Artemis,' Vinyáya said, pulling him away from the computers and out of Iris's hearing, 'I can only spare one of my officers to go with Diggums if things go according to plan. If they don't…Diggums might have to go on his own. Is your friend willing to risk his life for Holly?'

'He would,' Artemis answered. 'And you don't have to worry, because I'm going with him.'

Vinyáya's face broke into the first genuine smile she had given him since they met. 'I often wondered what she sees in you. Maybe I'd understand it someday. But that would be a stupid thing to do, Fowl. You're not experienced in this, and you might possibly go up against armed LEP officers.'

'I'm willing to try.'

There was a gleam in the boy's blue and hazel eyes that Vinyáya found disconcertingly familiar, particularly in the hazel one.

'You're not going to sit here quietly even if I say no, aren't you, Fowl?' she said.

'You know me too well already,' he replied, bowing his head to hide his smile.

'Call Diggums, Iris,' said the elf, shaking her head. 'Whatever happens in the mines, Fowl, is your responsibility.'

* * *

**A/N:** V for...Vinyáya. No, I wasn't thinking about a certain masked vigilante when I wrote that, although looking back, I think it was the subconscious speaking.

Iris has a fondness for lame jokes, I'm afraid. Her joke about Venus - unlike the Mad Hatter's riddle - actually does have an answer. Hint: It has something to do with Malaysia. And Australia. *ahem* Happy guessing!


	17. Chapter 16: Will You or Won't You?

Chapter title is from the line in _The Lobster Quadrille_ from _Alice in Wonderland_: 'Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?' It's been stuck in my head for weeks!

* * *

Chapter 16: Will You or Won't You?

**Ys Street, Haven City**

'Fowl?' Mulch answered on the third ring. 'How'd you get my number?'

'Let's just say I know…people,' said Artemis, glancing at Vinyáya. She nodded to him to continue.

'Heard all about the hooha you've started, Mud Boy. That message and everything.' There was a pause, in which Artemis distinctly heard the sound of dwarf molars crunching an unfortunate carrot to death. 'Need my help, do you?'

'How very astute of you, Mulch. Yes, actually, I do need your help.'

'Aha! Again! I knew it, Fowl, you can't do anything without help from me –'

'I need your help to rescue Holly.'

There was a cough, and then Mulch said, slowly, 'What happened?'

'She was kidnapped. By LEP officers.'

The laugh that burst out from Mulch wasn't a pleasant sound you wanted to hear over the phone. 'She's been _kidnapped_? By LEP themselves? And you want me to help save her?' There was a decidedly loud snort of derision from his end. 'Artemis Fowl wants me to help rescue Holly Short. From the LEP. Actually, that _is_ very ironic –'

'Mulch, can you or can't you help me?' the boy cut in impatiently. 'We can't determine her status right now, because – well – we don't have the information.'

'Where is she then?'

'The old dwarf mines at Liquorice Hill.'

'Hmph. Those mines. I used to work there for a bit, me and my cousin Nord. Bled dry within thirty years. Not a good place to go, really. They were closed after we dwarfs up and left.'

'Yes…but we've determined that her signal's coming from there.'

'Might have been a ruse, Fowl, have you thought of that?' said Mulch, sniggering. 'I heard what happened with that Koboi psycho when she left her helmet and escaped. Furty's told me all about it.'

'Hold on a second.' Artemis covered the mouthpiece of the phone he had borrowed from Iris and turned to speak to her. 'Holly's signal. Is it from her helmet or her jumpsuit?'

'Her…phone, actually. That was the only one I could get,' Iris replied, wide-eyed. 'Why? Isn't it good enough?'

'It's from her phone, Mulch,' said Artemis, not liking what he had to say to the dwarf.

'Huh. Her phone. Someone could have chucked it down the mines and dumped her elsewhere.' Mulch hummed to himself absently, mulling over the options. 'Who are these people you're with? I just heard the news that you were in Atlantis.'

'I escaped,' Artemis said. 'With a fork.'

'Don't mess with me, Mud Boy, we have a problem here. So you want me to tunnel into the mines and see if she's in there somewhere? Or her phone, perhaps?'

'I can't put it plainer myself. Would you do it, for Holly?' asked Artemis.

'You know, this really makes me think.' There was a sucking sound as Mulch finished the last of the carrot. 'But I think I'd do it. For old times' sake.'

'I'm sure Holly would appreciate it, Mulch. Now, where are we going to meet?'

'Wait – you're coming with me?'

'Yes,' Artemis said, as Iris's shoulders started to shake suspiciously. 'It's the most I can do for Holly, for getting her into this mess.'

'You? I'm not seeing it, Artemis, so you'd better explain it to me when I see you. Meet me at Liquorice Hill, along End Street, not many fairies there. Your friend Butler there with you?'

'Unfortunately, he isn't with me right now. I'll see you there, Mulch.'

'Oh boy,' said Mulch, shaking his head as he put down the phone, 'we're going to be in so much trouble.'

'You're going to be in _so_ much trouble,' Iris echoed, all the way in the Old Quarter. 'Do you realize what you're doing, Arty boy?'

'Yes, Iris. Now if you would hand me any weapons that would be suitable for me?' he said, heading over to the weapons table.

'I've got a few.' Iris jumped up from her seat and went over to the table with him. 'But first – I need you to get out of that jacket. It's too showy.' She knelt down and dragged a box from beneath the table. 'What are you – a size 10 or 11?'

'I'm not sure,' he said, watching as she pulled grey material out of the box. 'Are those uniforms?'

'Yep. Our uniform.' Iris stood up, holding something that resembled a baggy tracksuit top. 'Here you go. It's long enough, but I'm afraid the shoulders would be too big, since, you know, yours aren't that manly.' She giggled and held out a hand for Artemis's jacket.

He shrugged off the jacket and handed it over to the fairy. 'It's not necessary, I think,' he said uncertainly.

'No. You're one of us now, so put it on, Arty boy.' She threw the hoodie at his head and stuffed the jacket into the box with the rest of the uniforms before kicking it under the table. 'Besides, you're not supposed to be _seen_.'

He pulled on the top and swallowed his protests. This was no time to worry about the state of his clothes. Holly had been in the mines for quite some time, and then they would have to get her out…

'I think you can have this,' Iris was saying, as he zipped up the uniform. She placed an old Neutrino in his hands and grinned. 'The Neutrino 98. Two settings only, and mind you don't use the second one, because it's a bit wonky. Here, have a go at the dummy there.' She pushed Artemis to face the practice dummy at the end of the room. 'Aim and shoot. Idiot-proof.'

He pressed the trigger, once. A charred hole formed on the dummy's cheek, smoking slightly.

'It's not supposed to do that,' said Iris, frowning. 'Ah well. That's the best you can have. Oh, and let me see…ah, my disco balls!'

She held up two silver spheres the size of tennis balls, and dropped one into Artemis's pocket. 'This, my boy, is what I call a light bomb, although the term itself is grossly inaccurate and would make me smash walls if I knew how. It's based on a similar one invented by Foaly himself, but I've tinkered with it a bit. Besides inducing mass unconsciousness, I've also added colour filters to it, which means that it makes a lovely light show when you have a party.' She giggled and touched the single button on the top of the sphere. 'Press this to start the light show.' She twisted the ring around the equator of the sphere, which had Gnommish numerals on it. 'Set the time for the flash here – it goes from one second up to half an hour. I haven't added the filters, but that doesn't matter, seeing as you're not going to a party. And mind you, it's _bright_. Think of this as a magnesium flare with time control.' She paused and dropped the second ball into Artemis's pocket. 'Except without the magnesium, of course, or it would burn your pants off if you set it off accidentally. And voila – those were my Disco Balls.'

'I take it that they should be used as a diversion?' said Artemis, patting his pocket as a plan formed in his head.

'Oh yep. Unless you plan to chuck it at someone's head. Thing is – and I have to warn you – if you set the light for too long, it might cause blindness. _Might_, but I'm not too sure. So make sure you're not looking straight at it when you want to get away.'

'I'll remember that,' he said.

She beamed at him and patted his shoulder. 'Be careful with the Neutrino, all right? First setting only. You might fry your hand off with the second.'

'Don't worry,' he said, slipping the Neutrino into his other pocket. It was about the size of a small toy gun, and stayed pretty well hidden in the pocket.

'Oh, and one more thing – iris-cams!' Iris leaned over the table and grabbed one of the plastic containers arranged in neat rows against the wall. 'The older models, of course. Section Eight was accumulating all that junk over the years, but am I lucky to get my grubby hands on them…ho hum, what colour are your eyes?' She looked up into Artemis's eyes and chuckled. 'Which colour do you want? Blue or hazel?'

'Blue,' he said, taking the coloured lens she held out between a pair of tweezers. He placed it over his eye and blinked back tears as the iris-cam adjusted itself to his eye.

'I'll be watching back here.' Iris gestured to the computers. 'V's worried about you, all right. Told me to pull out all the stops for you. Speaking of which…' She handed him a tiny flesh-coloured cylinder. 'Earpiece.' And then a square patch of flesh-coloured material. 'Throat mike.' She shook her head and raised her eyes to Haven. 'I should just pack up my lab in a bag and follow you all the way, Arty boy.'

He was about to make a retort when Vinyáya looked over the row of computers at him.

'Come on then,' she said. 'We have to go.'

'Artemis!' Iris hissed, pulling at his arm as he made to follow Vinyáya. 'I haven't assigned you a password. Here, say this when you're at the front door.' She shoved a folded piece of paper into his hand. 'Memorize and destroy this, okay? Or I might be forced to zing you to pieces.'

He glanced at the words scribbled on the paper before he tucked it into his breast pocket. 'Mad as a maenad,' he remarked, apropos of nothing.

'Stark raving _mad_,' Iris laughed, pushing him out the door.

**Liquorice Hill, Haven City**

'Is that Diggums?' said Vinyáya, peering round the corner of End Street, with Artemis behind her.

He looked over the top of her head to the squat figure standing under a burnt-out lamppost. Mulch waved to him, grinning widely.

'Yes, that's him,' Artemis confirmed, stepping back. 'I should go meet him.'

'All the best to you, Artemis.' Vinyáya shook his hand warmly. 'Meet me here when you're done; I'll send someone to take you and Holly back to our HQ. Ask the person for Iris's favourite joke – we're the only ones who know what it is.'

'I will,' he replied. 'Thank you, Commander.'

Vinyáya waved to him and disappeared down a side street, her silver hair hidden beneath the grey hood of her uniform. Artemis didn't bother to do the same – the street was deserted, as Mulch had said, and his dark hair wasn't as conspicuous as the elf's anyway.

'Artemis Fowl himself comes to rescue Holly Short from a kidnapping,' said Mulch, as the boy walked up to him. 'History repeats itself and comes back to bite its own tail.'

'Do you have a plan, Mulch?' asked Artemis, as he looked up and down the street. The other end of the street was a dead end, where the mines had been sealed years ago. There seemed to be no way of getting into the mines through the solid rock walls either.

'Not really. But I can see the general shape.' Mulch ambled to the tunnel wall on the left and placed a hand on the rough surface. 'I know this place well, so you've called the right man for the job.' He winked and let his beard hair fan out over the rock. 'Let's see, vibrations…which are suspicious, 'cos the mines are supposed to be sealed.' He pressed an ear to the wall and listened for several moments. 'Technically you can get a shuttle in there when the tunnel shafts were open, but how did they?'

'So what do you suggest we do then?' said Artemis, placing his hand against the rock wall. He could feel a definite vibration in the rock, as though there was some heavy machinery or passing vehicle on the other side. 'Can you tunnel through?'

'You don't have a plan? Isn't that shocking. No, not through the rock,' said Mulch, moving along the wall with his hands splayed on the surface. He stopped and reached down to press a hand against a patch of the wall near his knee. 'This'd do.'

'And what is that?'

'One of the pipes for the water supply.' Mulch got down on his knees and wriggled his fingers into what appeared to be impenetrable rock. His fingers sank all the way through to his knuckles. 'We should be able to get through that. It's just clay.'

'And then once we're through – '

'My instincts are telling me that they've got the tunnel open on the other side,' said Mulch, pulling out a handful of earth and licking it. 'That kind of vibration – usually it's a vehicle. We dwarfs can tell the difference.'

'So supposing that Holly's in there somewhere,' said Artemis, 'we need to create a diversion, during which one of us will get to her and pull her to safety.'

'Yeah.' Mulch swallowed the handful of earth and grinned. 'So are you up for it, Mud Boy? Or am I going to be the hero and you the sidekick?'

'Yeah, Arty boy,' said a sly voice in his ear, 'what is it going to be? The hero or the sidekick?'

He knelt down beside the dwarf and stared at the circle Mulch had dug out. 'How big is this pipe again?' he said.

* * *

**A/N:** Two chapters at once now - the story's been mouldering in my comp for the past month or so. I'm still editing it...maybe I won't ever stop until I post the whole thing here. The Inner Editor screams for attention and is never satisfied.


	18. Chapter 17: Something to Sneeze At

Erm. Firstly: So, so sorry to those who put me on their Alerts list...must've been a shock to get so many e-mails in your inboxes. (I know I would be.)

Secondly: I took my time editing and posting the chapters online, but most unfortunately, I've run out of time. Uni starts very soon, and as I have so many things to pack, I was worried that I would leave behind some things. Like this fic, for example. So I took the drastic step of posting all the remaining chapters here in one go...and once classes start, methinks there won't be time for me to come here often. *cries*

Thirdly: A million THANK YOUS to those of you have followed this story and have given me your thoughts on it. I really appreciate it, but all good things must come to an end. (Believe me, it's heartbreaking.)

To **bubbles**: LOL, thank you! =D The beta blushes and says thank you too. Nope, we can't give you Colfer's autograph - we're still looking for one too!

To **silverphoenix**: Thank you for the review! Glad you like Iris :P And here are the updates...all in one go. (Oops.)

To **SALSA: **Thanks for reviewing! Continue reading to find out more :) Hope I answer your questions!

To the beta - a googillion thanks for everything: for your wonderful patience, and your not-hitting-me-over-the-head when I couldn't shut up, and for giving me your invaluable feedback. It's been a beautiful relationship, it is.

Hope you guys have much fun reading this as I had writing it! And now this little newborn baby will be released into the wilderness of the Internet for your eyes; complete, whole and regrettably flawed. *pats fic tearfully*

**Disclaimer:** Characters, places and anything related to the Artemis Fowl series included in this and subsequent chapters are the property of Eoin Colfer. I own Iris Moonlove though.

* * *

Chapter 17: Something to Sneeze At

**Liquorice Hill, Haven City**

There were, as Vinyáya had predicted, armed LEP officers standing guard within the tunnel of the old dwarf mines. And what was more – the tunnel had been excavated recently to accommodate an LEP shuttle and docking point. Nothing fancy – just the basic equipment to allow the shuttle to dock and return to where it came from. Building a terminal in here would require time and money, and whoever had ordered the tunnel to be cleared didn't have both to spare.

Artemis and Mulch were still in the pipe, separated from the officers within the tunnel by a thin layer of soil Mulch had not digested.

'Okay, here's the plan, Mud Boy,' Mulch whispered, placing a hand on the blocked entrance of the pipe. 'Do I run and get her, or are you going to do it?'

Artemis bit his lip and stared down at the floor of the pipe. He could see the interior of the pipe, despite the complete darkness, due to the night-vision provided by the iris-cam. Everything was in radioactive green, including Mulch's grinning face before him.

'How many on the other side?' he whispered instead.

Mulch leaned towards the entrance, listening to the voices he could hear through the soil. 'About two here, I think. Might be more.'

'So the plan is…' Artemis licked his dry lips and continued, 'We use one of these light bombs to distract them, I try to locate Holly, get her, and then we head straight back here and you block up the tunnel after us.'

'That's the best you can do?' Mulch said, shaking his head in disbelief.

'Need help, Arty boy?' said Iris's voice, right in his ear. 'Come on, ask and ye shall receive. Gimme a chance to test out the cam. I have X-ray if you want.'

'Switch the view to X-ray when I tell you,' he whispered. His words would be relayed back to Iris through the throat mike; there was no need to shout as the patch would pick up any vibration from his throat and send it back to her crystal-clear. 'And switch to normal view when I get out of here; I don't want to be blinded.'

'Got it.'

'Ready?' Mulch unhinged his jaw and waited for the signal from the boy.

Artemis nodded, slipping one of the spheres out of his pocket and setting it to a ten-second burst. 'Close your eyes, Mulch.'

The dwarf raised a thumb, lined up his jaw to the pipe's entrance, and launched himself through the layer of soil into bright light.

Artemis pressed the button and threw the silver ball out after Mulch, ducking his head behind his arm as he did so. There was a sharp pain in his eye as Iris switched the night-vision to normal view.

And then there was a blast from further down the tunnel.

* * *

'What was that?' Holly exclaimed, as she was thrown out of her seat. The shuttle rocked slightly from the blast and settled. The crates that had been piled at the other end of the shuttle emitted strange knocking sounds, but Bumble didn't bother to investigate.

'Right on time,' he said, going to the back of the shuttle and pressing his face to the window. 'I'll be out of here soon, heh heh.'

'What's going on, Bumble?' she called after him. 'Where are we?'

'Classified information, Cap.' Bumble grinned and rapped on the glass of the window. 'Looks like a light show out there. Hey – that's odd. Why's it taking so long?' He went to the door of the shuttle and pressed the button to open it. 'Stay there, Cap. I'll be right back.'

She watched as he passed in front of the shuttle's windscreen, waited a few moments, then got up and crept towards the door. She didn't know how she was going to get out of here – and where _here _was, she didn't have an idea either – but it was better than sitting round and doing nothing. Besides, if they were in a terminal as she guessed they were, she could try to slip past the other officers and head for the exits. With both hands behind her back – well, too bad, but she had been in stickier situations before.

Someone stepped through the door at the same time she got there, and collided heavily into her. She kicked out immediately, tripping the other person into the shuttle.

'Ouch!' It sounded familiar. _Very_ familiar, in fact –

'Artemis?' she gasped, getting to her feet unsteadily. 'What are you doing here?'

'Rescuing you,' the boy said, scrambling to his feet and grabbing her arm. 'Come on, Mulch is waiting for us.'

She followed him out of the shuttle into a tunnel. Not a terminal then. Artemis backed against the shuttle and pulled her along to the front, glancing to the right and left as he did so.

_Not a slug's chance in a dwarf delicatessen_, she thought, as she heard officers running towards the shuttle.

'Do you have a weapon?' she asked hurriedly. 'Get me out of these.'

'Neutrino 98,' Artemis grunted, struggling to pull the gun out of his pocket. 'Should I try –'

'One shot, through the links.' She turned her back to him and held out her hands. 'Just between.'

She heard the click of the safety catch being released, and then her hands fell apart as the shot melted the plastic.

'Give it here,' she said, grabbing the Neutrino from Artemis. She deftly aimed the shots at the weak points in the cuffs, cutting through the plastic and releasing her hands from the bonds.

The officers were getting closer. One shot arced past them as the first officer rounded the corner of the shuttle.

Holly pushed the boy around the nose of the shuttle, released a few shots in the officers' direction, and rolled behind the stacks of boxes piled beside the tunnel wall. Artemis was waiting to pull her to safety behind the boxes.

'Those aren't Neutrinos,' Holly managed to gasp out as she flicked through the settings on the one in her hand. 'Those can take your head off. D'Arvit, this isn't going to stop them.'

'What was that blast?' Artemis said, peering through the gaps in the boxes. He sneezed as he leaned towards the boxes for a better look. 'This smells like curry powder.'

'I don't know. We can confuse them a bit with this, but I don't like our chances.' Holly banged a fist on the ground. 'Why did you have to do something so stupid, Artemis? Is this your clever plan then?'

'Me? Stupid?' Artemis was shocked into being ungrammatical. 'I'm trying to save you!'

'By having both of us killed?' she whispered back fiercely, as several officers formed a circle in front of the boxes.

'One more.' Artemis pulled the second and last sphere from his pocket and turned the ring to thirty seconds. 'Half a minute, that's all. Run with your eyes closed. Mulch will be waiting to get us out – get to him.'

'That looks like – '

'No, it's not from Foaly. When I throw this out here, you don't look at it, d'you understand?'

'Of course I do, but – '

'One – '

Holly shut her eyes, hardly believing that she was trusting Artemis in this. She was going to run out of here with her eyes closed, while LEP officers stood by with their guns – no, best not to think about it now. There would be time to think of this idiocy when she got out of here. _If_ she got out of here.

'Two – '

She felt Artemis's hand on her shoulder, his grip tightening as he rose slowly.

'Three!'

She saw the flash of light through her eyelids, a terrible brightness that would have knocked her unconscious if she had been looking straight at it. Boxes banged against her as she and Artemis pushed through the stacks, colliding into yelling officers on the way. Wait a sec – how would they know where they were heading –

'Got you!' someone shouted in her ear, pulling her by the other arm.

Artemis released her shoulder, stumbling blindly past her. Holly felt a hairy hand push her after the boy, and then she felt a hole in front of her outstretched arms. Someone's hand grabbed her and tugged her into the hole, into some confined space smelling of damp earth, while another hand pulled the Neutrino from hers.

'Mulch!' she heard Artemis yell from outside the hole. 'Get out!'

The brightness was dissipating as Holly squinted through half-shut eyes at Artemis, still standing outside the hole she had entered. She heard voices – those were the officers who had not been affected by the flash –

'Hellfire!' The first few shots missed Artemis by inches as he backed into the mouth of the pipe. 'Mulch!'

Mulch was a dim shape behind her, waiting for Holly and Artemis to enter to pipe so he could seal the entrance.

'Move it, Holly!' Mulch's face was pale, even in the fading brightness of the light outside. '_Get Artemis in!'_

She turned to yell at Artemis, only to see that he was squeezing off shot after shot from the Neutrino.

'D'Arvit, Arty!' she yelled, yanking at the hood of his jacket. 'Move!'

He didn't seem to have heard her as his finger pumped the trigger, again and again. The officers were getting closer – Artemis's shots didn't seem to be slowing them down at all. A few shots missed the boy's arm by inches as he leaned out of the pipe to fire the Neutrino.

Holly did the only thing she could think of to bring Artemis to his senses – she curled her fingers into a fist, drew her arm back and punched him on the nose.

It worked beautifully. Artemis fell back into the pipe from the force of the punch; Holly pried the Neutrino from his unresisting fingers and released as many shots as she could outside – there were several yelps, and the shots from the officers decreased fractionally.

'Move, you idiots!' Mulch screamed. 'They're coming closer!'

'Come _on_, Arty!' Holly dragged at his jacket with her free hand and crawled onwards further into the pipe.

Mulch flattened himself against the wall of the pipe, allowing Holly and Artemis space to squeeze through. The boy managed to turn over on to his stomach and drag himself after Holly. Then Mulch went to work at once – he unhinged his jaw and started sealing the mouth of the pipe after him with the digested soil.

It was pitch-black in the pipe after the entrance was sealed. Holly felt her way through on her hands and knees, the Neutrino safe in the holster at her hip, but it was slow going all the same. Artemis was right on her heels, bumping into her from time to time.

'Need help?' said Iris. Artemis had all but forgotten her in the excitement, but she had been watching everything from Ys Street. 'You're still wearing the iris-cam, Arty boy.'

'Night vision!' he barked, as his knees went down heavily on Holly's heels for the third time. 'Now!'

'Okey dokey.' Iris giggled, and a sharp sting caused Artemis's eye to water.

He could see clearly now, in shades of green. 'I can see our way through, Holly – move up a bit, will you?'

She backed up against the wall of the pipe, panting with the running and the effort of crawling through the cramped space. Artemis inched past her carefully, not wanting to hit things and places he shouldn't.

'Oove!' Mulch said, right behind him.

There – he was through. Artemis crawled forward along the pipe; Holly was trampling on _his_ heels this time. The air smelled of earth and water, not unpleasantly so, but it was claustrophobic in here. They would be out soon – it hadn't taken long for him and Mulch to get through –

It was only a short time before the hole at the other end appeared, and then the trio was tumbling out of the pipe into bright light.

_Very_ bright light, as it was. Artemis threw up an arm to shield his eyes – there was a lorry right before him, its headlights aimed at the pipe. If it was more rogue officers –

'Get in!' squealed the pixie from the driver's seat. His eyes were staring at the other end of the street in pure terror. 'Back, back!' Doodah was practically bouncing on the seat as he revved up the lorry.

Artemis glanced down the tunnel street, running to the back of the lorry with Holly behind him. The blast had blown a hole right through the layers of soil, opening a road straight into the tunnel they had just escaped.

The doors at the back of the lorry had been left ajar. Artemis dived into the cargo space, Holly falling in after him. He pulled the doors shut after her, throwing them into complete darkness once again.

The lorry began to move, lurching somewhat. Doodah was probably stamping on the accelerator in sheer terror.

'You all right?' Mulch called, thumping on the wall that separated the cab from the back of the lorry. 'Hello?'

'We're okay!' both Artemis and Holly yelled back.

The lorry gave a particularly bad lurch, throwing both elf and boy flat on their backs. Artemis felt something oozy and jelly-like splash onto his face. Holly was swearing loudly somewhere beside him.

And then there was the overpowering stench of fish.

'Fish! _Fish!_ D'Arvitting eejits!' Holly hauled herself upright as best as she could, slipping and sliding on the hydrogel and fish on the floor of the lorry.

Artemis sat up with lesser mishap; he could still see with the night-vision from the iris-cam. The dual vision was giving him a headache, as he could only see in the dark with one eye. He watched Holly slip and land flat on her back again.

'Need help?' he offered, holding out a hand.

'I can't _see_ it, idiot!' One of Holly's legs flailed wildly, hitting Artemis on the shoulder. '_Sorry!_'

'Here.' He grasped her hand and pulled her up. 'Don't move so much.'

'Ouch!' she shrieked, squeezing his hand so hard that he gasped in pain. 'Something pinched me!'

'It's not me – '

'I know it's not you! _Then what is it?_'

Artemis stared in bemusement at the crabs scuttling blindly on the floor of the lorry. Oh. Those. So it wasn't just the fish.

'Just crabs. Come here.'

'Beat the crap out of them for me!' Holly slithered and crashed past him in the dark. 'Do it, Artemis!'

'Do you mean it literally or fig – '

'Just _do_ it, Arty!'

It was a command he couldn't disobey, considering the circumstances. The crabs weren't too happy about it either. At least he didn't get pinched in places he would rather not think about. And Iris's loud guffaws were drowned out in the sounds of him kicking the crabs to the other end of the lorry.

* * *

**A/N:** It would've been a good combination for a romantic scene: darkness (check), Arty and Holly alone (check), nobody listening in (check) and escape from danger (check). Crabs. Pesky things. I like them with cheese.

Ooo, randomness.


	19. Chapter 18: Smile on a Monday

Chapter title is from a line in Lisa Hannigan's _Sea Song._

* * *

Chapter 18: Smile on a Monday

**Haven City**

'Okay…Arty boy, I need you to stop somewhere and meet one of our gang. She'll take you and Holly back to Ys Street. Where are you right now?' said Iris.

Artemis blinked a few times, trying to dispel the headache of using only one eye to see in the dark. 'I'm in a lorry. Can't see anything.'

'Jeez. I forgot,' Iris said, sighing. 'Okay, get Diggums to stop somewhere quiet. We can't risk anyone seeing you or Holly – you're both wanted by the LEP.'

'We need to tell Mulch to stop,' he told Holly. 'Can you do it? I've got a headache.'

Holly reached up and banged on the wall separating the back of the lorry from the cab, alerting Mulch and Doodah. 'Hey Mulch!' she called. 'Stop a bit!'

The lorry lurched for the umpteenth time and came to an abrupt stop, throwing both Artemis and Holly onto their sides.

'I really need to talk to Day about his driving,' Holly grumbled as she felt her way to the exit. 'I can't see anything – Artemis!'

He crawled past her and obliging pushed open the door. Mulch was waiting for them outside, checking the area for anyone who might spot the fugitives.

'Lucky I asked Day to commit grand theft auto eh, Mud Boy? You would've been vaporized in the mines.'

'Where are we now?' said Artemis

We're at the back of the PI firm,' Mulch said in a low voice. 'No, stay in there first, it's not safe. Who're we waiting for?'

'Not sure,' Artemis replied, peeking through the gap between the doors. 'Where are we exactly?'

'Back street of Lud Avenue,' Mulch said, and pushed the door shut.

'Heard that,' Iris said. Artemis heard the click of the keyboard in the background. 'Okay, one agent's somewhere in the area…yep, she says she'll come get you. Oh, she knows Holly – so we're looking for a dwarf beside a lorry, right?'

'Yes. Merrick Transportation,' Artemis said, rubbing his temples. He wondered if any of the fairies could give him a shot of healing sparks once they were safe in Ys Street. Silly of him not to use iris-cams in both eyes.

'She's…coming right up. Oh yeah, I can see Mulch on her view. Tell your friend to let you out.'

Artemis rapped on the door, indicating that Mulch should let them out. The dwarf stepped back as hydrogel, fish, miscellaneous crabs and one annoyed elf and boy glooped onto the street.

'Oh you poor things,' Mulch snickered, as Holly gave him a dirty look and wiped hydrogel off her uniform. 'You're going to stink worse than a century-old tunnel dwarf.'

'Keep talking, Mulch, and I'll stuff you right back in there,' Holly said, pulling the gel out of her hair. 'D'Arvit. There's someone watching us.'

'She came to bring us back to…somewhere safe,' Artemis explained, squinting across the street at the figure in grey. The fairy held up a hand and waved.

'She's waving at you, Arty boy. Can you see her?' asked Iris.

'Yes.'

'Good. I'm sending her over.'

The fairy jogged over to the lorry, face concealed beneath the grey hood of the uniform. Holly's hand automatically went to her Neutrino.

'She's one of the vigilantes,' Holly said out of the corner of her mouth to Artemis. 'You were with them?'

The boy nodded and stepped forward to speak to the fairy. 'What's Iris's favourite joke?' he asked, as Iris exploded into hysterical giggles in his earpiece.

'Venus and her chocolate drink, isn't it?' said the fairy. 'Lame one. Oh hello, Holly.'

Holly released the Neutrino and smiled in relief. 'It's you. Hani.'

'Yep. Dessert vendor by night, vigilante at other times,' the pixie said, lowering her hood.

'So you were watching me?'

'You could say that. Now I need to get you back to HQ.' Hani nodded to Mulch. 'I'll take over now. Thanks for getting them out of there.'

'Finally,' Mulch said, grinning all over his hairy face, '_someone_ says thank you for my noble efforts. Say, what desserts do you sell?'

'No time for that now, but I'll tell you later,' Hani laughed. 'Come on, you two. Before one of the LEP sees you.'

Artemis and Holly followed the pixie down the street, while Doodah and Mulch drove off with the lorry to abandon it in some dark alley.

All over Haven City, the streets were filled with people and LEP officers trying to make sense of things in the chaos. Vigilantes flitted through the crowds, doing their best to restore order; rogue officers dodged them and went ahead with the plans that had been given to them…and Vinyáya, a few streets away, bowed her head and listened to the sounds of a city descending into madness.

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

'You know, Kelp,' said Foaly, 'there's something I find fishy about this Merrick gremlin.'

'Yeah?' The commander paused with a spoonful of vole curry halfway to his lips. 'And you're only telling me this now?'

'It just occurred to me.' Foaly nodded at the bowl of curry in Trouble's hands. 'That. Cahartez was Merrick's biggest client.'

'Tell me.' Trouble dropped the spoon and placed the bowl on the worktable. 'Why didn't you come to me with this before?'

'Honestly, Kelp, would _you_ suspect Cahartez of murder and rebellion within the LEP itself?' The centaur snorted and called up the file on Merrick. 'Look here – Cahartez has been one of Merrick's long-time business partners, with all that curry to transport around Haven.'

'That doesn't prove anything,' Trouble said, giving his bowl of curry a very dark look. 'And Cahartez isn't what you would call the sharpest –'

There was a loud beep from the computer. Foaly held up a finger and clopped over to read the message.

'Foaly,' said Chairman Cahartez, his face coming into view on the screen, 'I'm calling an emergency meeting right now. Call up all the respective officers and get to the Situations booth at once.'

'Wait – what? Isn't this a bit sudden, Chairman? And the superior officers are busy with the mess in Haven.'

'Do it, Foaly.' Cahartez sighed wearily and shook his head. 'This is getting way out of control. I might have to call for a lockdown. The Atlantean ambassador's worried that this might spread all the way to Atlantis. He's giving me a lot of pressure, centaur, so do it _quickly_.'

'Will do,' Foaly replied. Cahartez zoomed out of view when he terminated the connection.

'What did I tell you?' said Foaly, looking quizzically over at Trouble. 'Lockdown? That's a bit drastic, isn't it? We didn't even do that during the goblin uprising.'

'The only way to find out,' said Trouble, getting out of his seat, 'is for me to speak to Cahartez himself.' He picked up the bowl of curry and headed for the door. 'I might need this for evidence,' he added.

**Ys Street**

'The Old Quarter,' said Holly, staring in wonder about her as she followed Hani down the street. 'Who would have thought?'

'Quiet enough not to have too many people prying, and just near enough to Haven to get there quickly,' Hani said, flashing a smile at her.

'So who's in charge, or aren't you going to tell me until we get to wherever we need to be?' said Holly.

'I'll explain later,' Hani said, shrugging. 'I need to go by the rules.'

'You don't come here often?' asked Artemis, walking beside Holly down the silent street.

'Once, when I was a kid,' she replied, craning her neck to look at some of the strange carvings and statues on the buildings. 'I know the story though – it's one of those we kids are always told. Like your human fairy tales about us.'

'So who was the Devil in your version of the story?' said Artemis, curious. Despite his knowledge of the People, he hadn't had much of a chance to question them on their folklore and myths. Too caught up in their technology and present conditions, probably.

'A Mud Man,' said Holly, smiling. 'Dahut had a human lover – she let him into the city of Ys during the night. I think this was during the time when the People and yours were beginning to get on bad terms…anyway, the man tricked her into opening the gates of the city, and there was a bad storm. Contrary to the version you've heard, Dahut's father didn't abandon her to the sea – he managed to get a pardon for her from the Frond monarchy, and she was allowed to spend the rest of her life in Atlantis. It gets a bit mythic after that – some stories said she died after all her blood turned to water, because she couldn't stand to leave the sea aboveground. Others said Gradlon didn't forgive her for what she had done and ordered his warlocks to put a curse on her. Apparently she died when all her skin and bones were turned transparent, so that everyone could see her shame.'

'She had a child,' said Artemis softly.

'Yep, I think some of the stories said that. Fairy kids are always told about it to remind us about the dishonest nature of Mud Men, and that we should never allow any human into our cities in the future.' Holly shut her eyes briefly and opened them to look thoughtfully at Artemis. 'Artemis Fowl, as always, rewrites history again.'

'Thank you,' he said graciously, smiling back at her. 'By the way, is there any chance that I can get some minor healing? The iris cam is giving me a headache.'

'It's the pressure underground, I think,' said Holly. 'We're equalized, but some parts aren't exactly. Come here.' She touched a fingertip to the side of his face. Several sparks wriggled down her finger and earthed themselves in the boy's skin. 'There. Good enough?'

Artemis shut his eyes and opened them, testing his vision. All clear. The dizziness had disappeared. 'Thanks.'

'No problem. What happened to your magic?'

'I used up every bit of it when I tried to cure my mother.'

An awkwardness that had not been present before crept into the air between them. Holly looked away, half-embarrassed and half-reluctant to bring up the past.

'About that –' she began.

'Here we are,' said Hani, stopping across the street from the lighthouse. 'The Watch House, as Iris calls it. You both are to go in – Iris wants you to say the password, Artemis, or she'll shoot you – and I have to get back to Haven.'

'Thanks, Hani.' Holly waved to the pixie as she skipped down the street back to Haven City.

'Come on.' Artemis crossed the street and went up the steps of the lighthouse, Holly trailing after him. 'Don't say anything. The tech fairy in there is a bit…unbalanced.'

'Oh I heard that, Arty boy,' said the cheery voice in his ear. 'Password. C'mon, say it or I'll deploy my laser guns.'

'I'm looking right at the front door – you can see it from the iris-cam,' he said, somewhat irritated. Holly was scanning the street behind them rather apprehensively, her fingers drumming a tattoo on the Neutrino.

'Nope. Password,' Iris insisted.

'Pink putrid porcupines and neon nuclear narwhals are as good as mad marauding maenads,' Artemis rattled off, scowling all the while.

'_Very_ good!' Iris squealed. 'Now the retina scan. Look in the peephole.'

The scan took all of two seconds, and then they were through.

'What kind of password is that?' Holly said, chortling, as she followed Artemis into the back room of the lighthouse.

'Asinine alliteration,' Artemis muttered. He got down on his knees beside the knot in the floor Vinyáya had shown him earlier and pressed his index finger to the spot.

Holly rolled her eyes and waited as the part of the floor swung downwards. 'This looks like one of Foaly's paranoid security measures,' she commented, descending the stairs in front of Artemis.

'You haven't seen her yet,' Artemis said with a smirk.

**Haven City**

She had the gnome by the arm, the officer's eyes wide with horror as he stared down the Neutrino she held inches from his ear.

'Who's doing this, Lark?' Vinyáya said calmly. The officer's eyes darted past her, up and down the street, but they were in a back street and were hidden from the officers in the main road around the corner.

'Can't say,' Lark gasped, trying to lean away from the gun, but not succeeding with the tight grip Vinyáya had on his arm. 'Orders were to get people into the stadiums or community halls in any way we can. No weapons, but I heard that we'll be getting them soon.'

'All LEP weapons were returned to Police Plaza earlier,' said Vinyáya, raising an eyebrow. 'Am I missing something here?'

'I don't know!' Lark cried out as she upped the setting on the Neutrino. 'Where did you get yours, Commander?'

'You don't have to know.' She dropped him, but kept the Neutrino aimed at him. 'Why are you doing this, Lark? You're LEP. You're supposed to protect the People, not destroy their homes and herd them like animals.'

'I don't know!' he said again, backing away nervously. 'Just orders. I don't know who gives them.'

'There must have been something in it for you,' she said, still unmoving.

'Okay, okay.' Lark held up both hands and tried to smile. 'There was something about a promotion for us. Some talk about a conspiracy…I don't know. The lads were saying that Atlantis wants to take over Haven, and we need to take matters into our own hands to protect our people before they get to us.'

'You're still lying to me.' Vinyáya strode to him and grabbed him by the collar. 'I didn't believe that, Lark. Even if it is true, you and the rest had no right to do that to civilians.'

'We're LEP,' he whined, as she pulled him up to look her in the eye. 'I'm only following orders.'

'Orders or not,' she said, her teeth clenched with the rage that remained under her cool composure, 'I want you out of here. D'you hear me? Stop this.'

'Who're you to stop me?' Lark said, speaking with the last bit of bravado he had. 'You're going to be kicked off your post anyway, _Wing Commander_.'

'I don't care about that.' Vinyáya released the gnome's uniform abruptly. Lark fell on his rump, surprised. 'But you don't do this in _my _city.'

The blow that hit him knocked him out until his colleagues found him, half an hour later. But by then it was too late; Vinyáya was gone.

* * *

**A/N: **The Watch House is credited to T Pratchett.


	20. Chapter 19: Sargasso

Chapter 19: Sargasso

**Ys Street**

Holly and Artemis entered the underground room in the lighthouse amid the warm brown smell of coffee brewing. Iris was ready to meet them at the door, a cup of coffee in her hands as she ushered them in.

'You guys stink!' she laughed, setting her cup down on the table beside the door. 'There's a shower down the passage outside, next door on the right. Hold on – I'll get you clothes.' She came back with her arms full of the grey uniform. 'These are for you – Holly, isn't it?'

'Thanks.' Holly passed the Neutrino to her and gathered the clothes into her arms. She took one of the uniforms from the top of the pile and held it up. It was similar to the one Artemis was wearing. 'Ah, I see. These look familiar, by the way.'

'Yep, old LEP uniforms dyed grey,' said Iris, dropping another pile into Artemis's arms. 'My arms were grey for a _week_ after that. Thank me, please.' She sniffed and picked up the cup of steaming coffee. 'Go on then. This place doesn't have ventilation vents, and I don't fancy smelling fish for the rest of the week, if you get my drift.'

There was a small bathroom down the passage, just as Iris had said. Holly came to a stop outside the door and turned to smile at Artemis. 'Want to go first?'

'You go,' he said. 'Ladies first.'

'Ever the gentleman,' she said, shutting the door in his face.

He leaned against the wall, listening to the sound of water falling on the floor in the bathroom. Iris came out to meet him with another cup of coffee.

'Here,' she said, taking the clothes from him, 'have this while you wait. And it's not sim-coffee, mind you. It's callubjous Colombian coffee.'

'How did you get it?' he said, taking a sip of the drink. Iris wasn't lying.

'Why do you think I live here?' she snorted, gulping down her own coffee. 'Nah, kidding. I bunked out at V's after I left the Academy, so when she started this, she asked me if I could stay over, watch the stuff while the gang was away. Not that I'm complaining, but it gets lonely when everyone's out for some time. And the rest have their day jobs – this is kind of like my salary, see? Coffee to keep me going. Rook gets them for me – I don't ask, he doesn't tell – and everyone's happy.'

'Does Vinyáya know about this? That's tantamount to smuggling, in a way,' said Artemis, amused.

Iris winked at him and held up her cup. 'Cheers, Arty boy. I only have this when V's away. She knows, really, but if I don't drink this while she's around, she doesn't ask.'

'Anything else that she doesn't know about?'

Iris shook her head, her streaked hair a blur of clashing colours. 'Hey, I'm not the only one who smuggles stuff. Where do you think we get the weapons and uniforms from?'

'Section Eight? I heard it was merged with the LEP after we returned with the demons.'

'Oh yeah, you got that right. I don't ask her about that, she doesn't come down on me for the coffee. Hell, she doesn't even ask where I get the computers from. I mostly salvage them from secondhand sales. Pathetic, I know.'

'That doesn't sound like the commander.' Artemis handed the cup back to her and took back the clothes. 'Wouldn't LEP check the equipment when Section Eight was absorbed into the main force? And why didn't she ask Holly to join this?'

They were aware of a sudden silence from the bathroom. The door opened slowly and stopped midway.

'Er…' Iris edged back to the main room, grinning sheepishly. 'You have to get V to explain that to her.' She scuttled off quickly with the coffee cups in hand.

'I heard nearly everything,' said Holly quietly, stepping out of the bathroom in the grey uniform. The LEP jumpsuit was rolled in a sticky bundle under her arm. 'And I'd really like to know too.'

'I'm sure she has her reasons,' said Artemis. 'We were away for three years.'

'You could have told me.' Holly gazed at him, her eyes questioning. 'I went aboveground to collect evidence to get you out of Atlantis. I met your mother. And the Council's going to go ahead and mind-wipe you anyway, if Vinyáya hadn't got you out of there. Couldn't you just call me?'

'I lost my phone,' Artemis replied. _She's met my mother, _he wondered. _How did she react when she saw Holly?_

'And I've lost mine,' said Holly, wringing her jumpsuit in her fists. 'They took it when I was kidnapped. I guess both of us were at fault.'

'Nobody did anything wrong,' said Artemis. 'We didn't expect all this to happen.'

'What about your plans, Artemis? Is there anything we can do to stop this?'

'I don't have any,' he admitted. 'I had one, in Atlantis, but I'm not too up to date on events in Haven right now.'

'Artemis Fowl doesn't have a plan,' Holly said sardonically. 'We fairies are going to be so lost without your help.'

'Holly,' he said, frowning, 'is anything wrong?'

'Oh no,' she answered airily, brushing past him to go back to the main room. 'Just that Haven's in total chaos and the LEP's not making it any better.'

He stared at her retreating back for a few seconds, still frowning, and then he headed into the bathroom. He knew, in some dim way, that Holly wasn't angry with him, despite her odd behaviour. It reminded him of the time after he had confessed that he had lied to her about his mother's illness. This wasn't about him – Vinyáya would have a lot of explaining to do.

**Situations booth, Police Plaza**

'It appears that Councilwoman Vinyáya is unavailable at the moment,' said Chairman Cahartez, waving the official conical hat as he talked. 'Foaly was unable to reach her. Would you agree to have this meeting without her?'

'Yes,' Pomona Lyess replied.

'Oh yes.' Bresniv shook himself and nodded to the other Council members. 'We don't have time to wait for her.'

'I can't agree to that, Chairman,' said Trouble. 'We need the full Council to decide anything in this crisis. Protocol.'

'We don't have time for that, Commander,' Lyess said, smiling thinly. 'We need to act as soon as possible to ensure that any further threats are contained – '

'Threats from the LEP, you mean?' Trouble smiled back at her with equal coldness. 'I've been getting reports that LEP officers are responsible for this.'

'Those people in grey are the ones doing this, Kelp,' Cahartez said sharply. 'If you have any information on them, I suggest you share it with us and help us to solve this crisis before more people get hurt.'

'I know nothing about them,' Trouble said, unperturbed by the stares he was receiving from most of the Council and officers assembled in the room. 'Perhaps _you_ do, Chairman?'

'Now look here, Commander – '

'Did I miss anything?' said Foaly, bursting into the room. 'Oh, sorry. Was I interrupting something important?'

'No,' said Cahartez, looking irritated. He picked up the remote on the table before him and pressed the button to display a live feed on the large screen. 'This is what's happening in Haven. So you're saying that we should wait for Vinyáya to turn up while these rebels burn down the entire city?'

'Do we have proof that they're doing that, Chairman?' Trouble tapped a finger against the side of his bowl of curry.

'Commander Kelp.' Cahartez's eyes flicked to the bowl for an instant, and then back up to stare at Trouble Kelp. 'I understand that you've been promoted only recently, so you may not be familiar about your duties as a commander. Perhaps you should listen to those who are more experienced in these matters?'

'Enough of that,' Council member Oberon interrupted. 'Can we focus on the main issue here?'

'Thank you, Oberon.' Cahartez gestured to the screen. 'So what do you think we should do?'

'All LEP's out in Haven, Chairman,' said Foaly, clopping over to stand beside the screen. 'All aboveground missions have been canceled temporarily – we've got every officer out there. What else can we do?'

'Who ordered all missions to be stopped?'

'The commanders did,' Foaly said. 'We have our hands full just monitoring the situation below ground.'

'Hmm.' Cahartez turned the official hat over in his hands. 'Can we initiate lockdown?'

'For this?' Foaly said incredulously. 'There are only three situations in which we can have a lockdown: flood, quarantine or discovery by humans. None of those have happened.'

'The Atlantean ambassador's on my case about this,' Cahartez said, still turning the hat over and over. 'Said he doesn't want us to muck up Atlantis when people start to get out of Haven.'

'No. No way.' Foaly waved his hands wildly to emphasize his point. 'No can do, Chairman. People are scared out of their minds – and you want to lock them _in_?'

'Do have another way then, centaur?'

'Yes. Yes, I do.' Foaly cantered over to Cahartez, grabbed the remote without so much as a by-your-leave, and pressed the buttons to call up different views of Haven. 'Look at that. Will you just _look_ at them, Chairman? We've got shops and homes burnt with Mud Men explosives, people panicking, and some officers – '

'Are you suggesting that the LEP is responsible for all that, Foaly?' said Lyess. 'May I remind you that that accusation constitutes treason?'

'What? _No!_ Will you just open your eyes and see that – well – the people we've accused of this aren't the ones responsible for it!'

'It's Fowl, isn't it?' one of the captains spoke up. 'Artemis Fowl. I escorted him to Atlantis. He planned all this, didn't he?'

'I heard that message,' said Oberon. 'It's him, isn't it, Foaly?'

'And we granted him amnesty, in exchange for a complete mind-wipe,' said Lyess. 'Is that fair?'

'We should have decided on a heavier sentence,' one major said hesitantly. 'You never know with Mud Men. He could be up to one of his schemes again, like that time when he kidnapped Captain Short.'

Foaly glanced helplessly at Trouble, for once unable to articulate his thoughts to defend Artemis or the unknown people in grey.

'Gentlemen.' Trouble stood up, silencing the babble that had broken out in the room. 'Ladies. If Fowl is responsible for this like you think he is, then what should we do about it?'

'Kill him,' Lyess replied calmly. 'Like we should have done years ago when we gave him the ransom. We put our trust in the wrong person, and now we live to regret it.'

'If he hadn't helped us during the B'wa Kell uprising, we wouldn't be here,' Foaly retorted. 'Did that slip your mind, Lyess? Not to mention the other time that he stopped the probe from reaching Haven? And what about Hybras and the demons, hmm?'

'If I recall correctly, you were mentioned in his message too, Foaly,' said Lyess sweetly. 'Did that slip your mind too?'

'Enough!' Cahartez slammed a hand down on the table. 'I will not let Haven be destroyed while you people bicker over this. Foaly, I want you to continue monitoring the situation. We'll stick to the current plan for the present. I'll call for another meeting if I judge that the situation has gone beyond control. Hopefully Commander Vinyáya would be kind enough to grace us with her presence.'

The assembly broke up, officers and Council members muttering among themselves as they left the room. Trouble and Cahartez remained in their seats, both not looking at the other in the eye, while Foaly fiddled with the remote and called up more views on Haven.

'Kelp,' said Cahartez, after the last captain had shut the door behind him, 'I need your full co-operation on this. I understand that you're new to your job as a commander, but we don't have time for that. Haven needs us right now.'

'I get you.' Trouble slid the bowl of curry across the table to the Chairman. 'And I want you to explain how LEP weapons were found in the trucks that were transporting your curry. Who signed the paperwork for the old equipment in Section Eight to be sent to the recycling smelters?'

'Now look here, Kelp – '

'We've got evidence, Chairman,' said Foaly, flicking his tail. He was enjoying this – it wasn't often that the commander himself went up against the members of the Council. Trouble was new to the job, certainly, but oh, what a happy change he was to the previous commanders. And that was including Julius Root.

'I don't know what happened to the weapons after I signed the order.' Cahartez refused to look at the bowl before him. 'The Council has the authority to demote you, Kelp. Losing your acorns so early in the job – that would be such a shame, wouldn't it?'

'At least I'm being honest.'

Cahartez stood up, his face carefully neutral. 'I don't know what you're talking about, Kelp. Maybe I should ask someone to replace you in Recon while you take a break. The responsibility's obviously too heavy for you.'

'It's going to be Bresniv, isn't it?' Trouble sneered. 'You nearly lost your face with the Sool fiasco. Don't think we didn't know about that.'

'Commander.' Cahartez placed the official hat on his head and pointed to the door. 'Leave. We'll talk about this once peace is restored in Haven. I hope you know what to do to achieve that.'

'The rot's gone too far, Chairman.' Trouble held the door open for Foaly to trot out before him. 'And it's my duty to dig it out.' He slammed the door behind him and marched down the passage to his office, Foaly on his heels.

'What next, Kelp?' said Foaly, suppressing a grin. 'Going out with the patrols?'

'I might,' said Trouble, scowling at passing officers who stared at him as the pair cut through the crowd in the corridors. 'And will somebody please stop mentioning that damn Fowl boy? Or I might end up killing him myself.'

'Whoa, hold it there, Fowl's innocent,' said Foaly, still trying hard to stop smiling. 'And there's no knowing what Holly might do if you do that.'

'You talking to me?' Trouble stopped abruptly, causing a corporal to crash into him. The gnome backed away and ran off, glancing over his shoulder with fear written all over his face. The look in the commander's eyes hinted at guns. And people getting shouted at. And lots of other unpleasant things besides. Trouble Kelp rarely got angry, but when he did, most officers knew when to step back quietly and shut up.

'I'm going the wrong way!' Foaly exclaimed, with false cheerfulness. 'Oh dear, must be the crisis – I'll forget how to use computers next – '

Trouble marched off, hardly caring what the centaur had to say next.


	21. Chapter 20: Happenstance

Chapter 20: Happenstance

**Ys Street**

Vinyáya sidled into the room among the rest of the group, a slim figure among the grey uniforms. Holly watched her from a corner, sipping on the cup of coffee Iris had given her. Artemis was busy at the computers, helping Iris to sort out some of her data and doing some quiet hacking of his own.

'Nothing, V,' said Iris in a low voice as she passed the commander with a new pot of coffee for the other members. 'Hani's still sending me updates, but we haven't determined the exact location.'

'Thank you, Iris.' Vinyáya lowered her hood and shook out her long hair. 'But I do wish we could – Cahartez would suspect me after this, surely, since I didn't turn up for the meeting. Short of storming Police Plaza itself, I'm not too sure what we can do.'

'Bust his curry vans!' one of the younger members called from across the room. 'I swear his vole curry isn't what they were.'

'I might look into that,' said Vinyáya, amid laughter from the rest.

'Who's doing it, Commander?' asked Holly quietly, coming up behind the older elf. 'I need an explanation.'

Vinyáya stiffened slightly, and then she relaxed when she saw that it was Holly. 'Oh hello, Holly. How are you?'

'I'm fine.' Holly gave her a half-hearted smile. 'I was worried about you a few days ago – you didn't seem so friendly.'

'Oh. That. Yes, well, I do apologize.' Vinyáya looked apologetic, but she didn't continue, choosing to step around Holly instead and head for the door.

'What was that about storming Police Plaza?' said Holly, blocking Vinyáya's way to the door. 'Cahartez? This group? I want to know why.'

'I don't have time, Holly,' Vinyáya said evasively, heading the other way instead. 'I'll get Iris to explain things to you –'

'Oh no,' said Iris, from where she was standing beside Artemis. She made a face at him. 'I'd rather face a troll than go against that captain. She scares me, d'you know that? How come she hasn't killed you yet?'

'I wonder about that sometimes,' Artemis confessed, pretending to look through files whilst the computer sent vital information back to Fowl Manor.

'Oh no you didn't.' Iris pushed him and his swivel chair away and took back the keyboard. 'Gimme that. I already let you see our early days, but I'm not going to let you get past our security encryptions – oh hey.' She paused and pouted at the boy. 'Foaly. Can you get into his systems?'

'If you'd let me try.'

'Here you go.' She dropped the keyboard into his lap and pushed him back in front of the computers. 'Knock yourself out. If that pony hacks back, though, _you're_ going to get it.'

'I want to hear it from you,' said Holly, across the room from the bickering pair. 'You owe me an explanation, Vinyáya.'

Vinyáya sighed and pushed past her to the door. Holly followed her out into the passage outside, shutting the door behind her.

'You've been away for quite some time,' Vinyáya began, turning round to look at the younger elf. 'The Ark Sool affair – the demons – Section Eight – a lot has happened since you left and came back.'

'I know,' Holly murmured. 'But why this?'

'I know who's doing all this,' said Vinyáya, sighing again. 'The LEP, the explosives, those people evicted out of their homes – I've seen it coming for some time now.'

'But you didn't stop it.'

'Yes, I didn't. That was my first mistake.'

'So who is it?' said Holly, crossing her arms.

'Cahartez.' Vinyáya smiled wanly as Holly's mouth fell open in shock. 'Yes, astonishing, isn't it?'

'How did you know?'

'He signed the orders for the old equipment in Section Eight to be sent to the recycling smelters. The organization's built up a lot of junk over the years, and my predecessors didn't throw them out – we didn't know what to expect from the demons, you see. Anyway, he signed the orders. Foaly and I were responsible for overseeing the process, but he was pretty busy since the demons came back. I found out a few things.'

'Which you didn't tell Foaly,' said Holly, tactfully keeping the accusatory tone out of her voice. 'It would have saved you and everyone else so much trouble.'

'Yes. My second mistake was not to tell Foaly. I should have – but it's too late.'

'You could call him up right now and tell him, Vinyáya.'

'Oh no,' said Vinyáya, 'the moment Cahartez gets wind that Foaly knows what he's up to, there's no knowing what he might do. Cahartez may not be the sharpest fairy around, Holly, but when he's in a corner, he'll fight back. I know what he's like.'

'So what did he do?'

'He…I found weapons missing from some of our shipments,' Vinyáya continued. 'Small things, at first. A few Neutrinos here and there, some of the older guns missing – I didn't think too much about it at first. And then Ariya started speaking to me about Cahartez's high-handedness with older LEP equipment. Lieutenant Howell's in charge of the recycling now – you've heard of him? No? He was your senior in the academy, I think, and one of Ariya's close friends – he was getting strange requests from Cahartez to set aside some of the weapons. Something about reducing the budget, which he didn't find odd at first.'

'So Ariya was murdered because she knew too much?'

'Oh yes. Sadly so. I was supposed to meet her on the day of her murder – after the Council meeting – but I never made it there. She wanted to tell me something important, but someone got to her before I did.'

'What about Lyess?' said Holly, pulling at her bottom lip. 'Ariya's cousin.'

'She knows nothing about all that.' Vinyáya laughed bitterly. 'But she wouldn't say no to a bit of extra authority – Cahartez would have a willing supporter from her if he plays his cards right.'

'I see. So…what about the weapons?'

'Rook – Corporal Rook, have you met him? No? A shady character, to be honest, but he didn't like what was going on. He was one of the few officers who were involved in hiding the equipment. He told Iris about it, who told me – they're dating,' said Vinyáya, smiling at Holly's frown. 'Anyway, he came to tell me about it – he was one of my students in the Academy – and it turned out that Cahartez was smuggling the guns in his curry.'

'It sounds too coincidental to me,' Holly said musingly. 'You knew about all this because of what someone said to another person?'

'I like coincidences,' said Vinyáya, shrugging. 'We hardly pay attention to them, but they're there. Can we know why? I don't know. But I'm not complaining about how things have turned out.'

'So the curry – Cahartez used Merrick's lorries to transport it, did he?'

'Yes, exactly. After all, what's suspicious about curry?' said Vinyáya wryly. 'Merrick found out about it too late. He wasn't ready to risk it for Cahartez, and there was an argument, from what I've gathered. And then before you know it – Merrick's dead.'

'His bodyguards killed him, didn't they?' said Holly.

'They were ex-LEP, you see. It was a simple matter for Cahartez to call them up and ask for a favour. I wager he promised them something else in return, but I'm not going to bother about that.'

'So Cahartez was the culprit all along.' Holly ran a hand through her spikes, trying to digest everything Vinyáya had told her. 'But _why_?'

'Ah – here is where it gets murky.'

'Yeah?' said Holly, grinning uncertainly. 'Someone's behind all this?'

'There are signs. Cahartez doesn't have it in him to plot something as elaborate as this – he's simultaneously turning the LEP against themselves, us and Artemis.'

'I won't be surprised with everything that's happened so far.' Holly rubbed her eyes wearily. 'Especially when you've been friends with Artemis, nothing surprises you after a while.'

'I understand.' Vinyáya placed a hand on Holly's shoulder. 'But we have an idea where this person might be. Hani's been tracking her for some time, and we're getting closer to capturing her. I was thinking…maybe you'd like to get to this person yourself? Stop the problem from the cause, so to speak?'

'I'm not one of you.' Holly shrugged off Vinyáya's hand, none too gently. 'Why did you start this group?'

'I'll be asked to step down soon, Holly.' Vinyáya cocked her head and studied Holly's dismayed expression. 'I've been in this job longer than Julius had. I've heard the rumours…and they're generally right, if my judgement is anything to go by. I'll remain in the Council once I step down, but the Wing Commandership will be passed on to a younger officer. Making way for new blood, so I've heard.'

'But you've been so dedicated to your job,' Holly protested. 'Surely you can't change their minds? Who decided this?'

'The Council, I'm afraid. They have the highest authority in the Lower Elements Police, don't they?' Vinyáya shook her head thoughtfully. 'I'm beginning to wonder whether Cahartez had anything to do with it. I've opposed quite a few of his decisions in the past.'

'So you started this just to have something to do once you step down? But that doesn't – doesn't make sense.'

'I started this to…blame an old elf for having her strange fancies, Holly.' Vinyáya's smile was dreamy. 'I can't say myself – maybe I thought I could stop Cahartez on my own. Going up against the Council isn't easy, I know, but there are steps I could have taken instead of this. But I chose this. Maybe I'll understand why someday, but not now. Not now.'

The look on Vinyáya's face was a new one to Holly. In all her years in the LEP, she had not seen Vinyáya look so…tired before. 'Why didn't you tell me earlier then?' she asked gently. 'I've been back for months – '

'You've been busy,' Vinyáya replied simply. 'Catching up with your old life. Getting back into the LEP. You had so much to do – I thought it wouldn't be right for me to burden you with this. Besides,' said Vinyáya, taking Holly's face between her hands, 'you have your career before you. Not long ago you were considered for the post of major – the first female Recon major in history. I can't ask you to join this group and risk your future for me.' She lowered her hands and stepped back, her face impassive. 'Do you understand now?'

'Yes,' said Holly. 'As best as I can. But there are so many things I still want to know.'

'So do I, Holly.' Vinyáya placed her hand on the scan pad, opening the door into the main room. 'But we don't have time to look for the answers. We need to stop Cahartez, before he manages to take over Haven completely. And when he does, even those in the LEP who oppose him won't be able to do anything.'

'What can I do?' said Holly.

'In the meantime…there's always the other fairy to go after,' Vinyáya answered, holding the door open for her. 'Would you do that for me, Holly?'

'I won't have a future if Cahartez takes over,' she said, chuckling. 'Yes, I will. For you, for the LEP, and for the People.'

'Ah, a noble sentiment,' Vinyáya observed. 'I like those.'

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

'Er…Kelp? Commander? Was this the one you wanted?' Foaly held out the big ugly gun to Trouble Kelp, doubt and amusement all over his face. 'Here you go. A Pig Blaster, '80s original, with extra slugs if you want.'

The Pig Blaster. It was one of the first guns to be outlawed when solar and nuclear cells became big in fairy weaponry. It resembled a human rifle, with the difference being that the slugs used involved much more than metal. There were several options for the ammunition, ranging from wrap balls (sticky little balls that spread out into a thin flexible web, preventing the person hit from moving), paint balls (someone lost their acorn over this, but they should never be underestimated) to the standard bullets. Originally used by field operatives who needed much more than bullets in their missions, the Pig Blasters gained notoriety for their varied – and often illegal – uses, once some smart fairies figured out ways to adapt the guns for functions besides incapacitating the target. The LEP had stopped using the guns in the late 1800's due to complaints from civilians and fairy human rights groups (they were considered nutty even then, but were pretty big during the time, all the same), but once in a while, a Pig Blaster found their way into the hands of antique collectors or the tunnel gangs.

And Trouble Kelp had specifically requested for one to be brought to him. To which Foaly was happy to oblige, although it was technically illegal for an LEP officer to use it.

'Thank you, Foaly.' Trouble turned the Pig Blaster over in his hands, checking the various parts and mechanisms. 'Good condition too.'

'One of my contacts had it,' said Foaly, watching in fascination as Trouble loaded the gun with paint balls. 'Er…sorry for asking, Kelp, but paint balls?'

'I'm not going to hurt anyone with this.' Trouble took aim and fired the gun, once, at the wall opposite the Ops Booth. Paint splattered over the surface of the wall and dripped to the floor.

'Hey hey, safety regulations, Kelp,' Foaly reminded him. 'No firing weapons in the Plaza unless you're within secure areas.'

'Sorry about that.' Trouble motioned to the officers who had been waiting outside the booth to step in. 'I'm not going to fire it anyway.'

'What are you doing, Trubs?' Foaly wasn't usually surprised with whatever happened these days – but this was just way too out of the ordinary. 'Going out on patrol to play paint balls? Is this your idea of a joke?'

'One: Don't call me Trubs,' said Trouble, surveying the Recon officers who came to stand to attention before him. 'Two: I'm not going to play paintball. Three: I'm going to arrest Cahartez.'

Foaly spat out the carrot he had begun to munch. 'You can't arrest the Council Chairman!'

'Actually, I can,' said Trouble without a trace of sarcasm. 'It's in my power to remove any obstruction which hinders LEP operation using any force that I deem necessary (1).'

'But you can't apply _that_ to – you know – arresting Cahartez!'

'The rule book doesn't say I can't.'

'Yes, but – _are you out of your mind_?'

'Maybe I am,' said Trouble, looking over the row of fresh young faces before him. 'We're all mad here anyway.'

'So what are these rookies going to do then? Knock out Cahartez with paint balls?'

'Oh no, they're just for show.' A few of the eager faces lost a bit of their enthusiasm under Trouble's scrutiny. 'A show of support, really. This is for Cahartez to see for himself that not every LEP officer is going to stand back and listen to him. The rookies, for one, are not going to stand for that.'

'Yeah, but why the Pig Blaster?' Foaly pointed at the gun in Trouble's hands with his second carrot. 'Why not the Neutrino? Handier. Deadlier. And they're not illegal.'

'This, my friend, is just for show.' Trouble held up the gun in front of the centaur's face. 'Cahartez's been hiding behind the LEP for too long. I'm going to show him what we can do.'

'You'll be kicked out if you lose this,' Foaly said, his eyes following the gun as though he had been _mesmerized_. 'All your acorns, Kelp.'

'Oh he can have them.' Kelp gestured to the officers to march out the door. 'And the rest as well. We'll see how he holds up with half the force. The other half isn't going to play nice.'

'You're crazy,' said Foaly, munching on his third carrot without registering what he was doing. 'I have nothing to do with this, okay?'

'Fair enough, pony. I'll deal with it on my own.'

'I still think you're crazy. I'll set an appointment for you with the psych when you get back.'

'Do that if it makes you happy. Now if you'll excuse me,' said Trouble, striding to the door with the Pig Blaster held aloft, 'I've got some coward's fairy arse to bust.'

Foaly crammed the last of the carrot into his mouth and hurried to the computers, calling up various views from the security cameras in Police Plaza. He always knew Trouble Kelp was half-crazy, but this was going to be _good._ He could trust the hooves to tell him.

* * *

**A/N:** The Pig Blaster snitched a few ideas from the lightning rods in Colfer's _The Supernaturalist._ I liked the cellophane slugs and the Gumballs - icky, but oh so deadly.

(1) The line is referenced from Chapter 2 of _The Arctic Incident._

I'm a rabid Vimes fangirl. Credit goes to Pratchett's _Jingo_ in this chapter!


	22. Chapter 21: Knifeedge

Chapter 21: Knife-edge

**Ys Street**

'She's in KL, Malaysia,' said Hani, pointing out the locations on the screen of the computer. 'There. Enlarge that part there. Got that, Iris?'

'Some sort of transport hub, is it?' said Iris, fingers tap-dancing over the keyboard. 'Near the main city. Lots of activity though – is it safe for any one of us to go there?'

'It'll be shut at night,' Hani replied. 'It'll be clear after midnight.'

'Where exactly is she?' Iris said, enlarging the view of the place window by window. 'We've got hotels and shops and everything. Lots of trains and buses coming in. Where?'

'Check one of the land lines, trains.' Hani jabbed a finger at the screen. 'There – check one of those. Line goes all the way to Port Klang.'

'Over here…yep, here's the station. Easy access by flying too. So who's going?'

'Holly,' Vinyáya said, nodding to the elf beside her. 'She's agreed to go, while we go after Cahartez in Police Plaza.'

'We're going after Cahartez?' said Bloom. A frown replaced the usually thoughtful look on his face. 'Are you sure about this, Vinyáya?'

'We're taking both out at the same time,' Vinyáya said reasonably. 'Double attack.'

'I like how you're talking,' said one elf. 'Makes it fun eh, Rook?' She elbowed the elf beside her, who shrugged and didn't respond.

'He's scared,' Iris teased, winking at Rook. 'Aww, don't worry Rookie, I'll be with you all the way. On the iris-cam.'

Rook waved a hand distractedly, and turned his back to answer his ringing phone.

'So, Holly? Ready to fly above ground and get our fairy?' said Vinyáya.

'Who is it?' said Holly. 'Why all this secrecy?'

'I think it would be better for you to find out when you…get there,' Vinyáya said. 'Don't worry about being ambushed – Hani reports that the fairy's often left unguarded at night. More so, at this time.'

'I see.' Holly didn't return Vinyáya's reassuring smile. 'All right, weapons. Any Neutrinos? And how am I supposed to get above ground? Any flares scheduled?'

'I've got one for you.' Vinyáya pulled the Neutrino from her belt and placed it in Holly's hands. 'Neutrino 2000. I've never liked using the 3000, myself. This served me well. And one of the LEP helmets we managed to salvage from Cahartez's crew.' She held up the cannibalized helmet from the table beside her. 'Iris's done a few changes to it – Foaly doesn't know we have a few left. But you can get a link to him once you're above ground.'

'And there's a flare scheduled in fifteen minutes,' said Iris, turning round from the computer. 'E316. You can fly right over to the place itself – lots of cloud cover tonight and you're not going over any high-rise buildings. Take a pod from Elevator Plaza.'

'I don't have clearance,' Holly reminded her.

'You're forgetting who you're with,' said Vinyáya.

'You?'

'Elevator Plaza's a short walk from Police Plaza. I'll go with you and assess the situation over at LEP HQ at the same time.'

'But that wouldn't be –'

'Holly,' said Iris, shaking her head, 'forget about all that.'

Holly grinned at her. 'Now you're talking.'

**Police Plaza**

Trouble Kelp marched through the corridors, his small band of Recon rookies in tow. Officers avoided him and stared after them. There were mutters, and some finger-pointing, but nobody felt up to stopping Commander Kelp from going where he was headed to with an illegal Pig Blaster. Something about the look in Kelp's face stopped fairies in their tracks and told them to slide off along the nearest corridors or loop back to where they came from.

'Sir,' one rookie gasped, hurrying to keep up with Kelp's long strides, 'why are we doing this?'

Trouble glanced at the elf and smiled. 'Thinking of backing out, Private?'

'Er…not exactly…'

'Lads.' Trouble came to a stop, causing the line of rookies behind him to crash into one another. 'You can stop right here and go back to your duties – I'm not stopping you. I'm giving you a choice to leave if you think this is stupid. But if you think you're up to this, even if you're risking your entire LEP career, then follow me.'

There were a few gulps and sheepish grins. But no one stepped out of the line and headed the other way.

'Good.' Trouble continued on his way to Cahartez's office, the rookies shuffling after him. 'I do appreciate your dedication to your jobs.'

Cahartez's office was empty when they came to a stop before the closed doors. The secretary gaped at them from her desk, her PDA falling out of her hands.

'Do you have an appointment, Commander Kelp?' she managed to gasp out.

'He does with me,' said Trouble, ignoring the sniggers from the young officers behind him. 'Where is he?'

'He'll be back in – er – five minutes,' the secretary said, scrambling out of her seat. 'Take a seat here, please. I'll inform him that he has an appointment with you.' She hurried out of the office, her PDA clutched in her hands.

'Kelp?' The doors buzzed open, revealing Cahartez in the doorway. 'I thought as much.'

'Hiding from your secretary?' said Trouble, stepping past Cahartez into the large office within.

'Not exactly,' said Cahartez, closing the doors behind the last officer. 'I've been trying to get Lili Frond – red tape and everything, you know.'

'Lili's smarter than you give her credit for.' Trouble sat down before the large desk and motioned to the officers to stand near the door. 'Right, down to business.' He placed the Pig Blaster on the desk, in plain view of Cahartez who took a seat opposite him. 'How much did you promise the goblins? Full amnesty for all their gang members in Howler's Peak?'

'What are you talking about, Kelp?'

Trouble clasped his hands and leaned over the desk to face the Council Chairman. 'Look, let's get this over with quickly, shall we? I've got my job to do, just like the rest of the LEP. How much did you pay them, Cahartez?'

'Do you think,' said Cahartez, narrowing his eyes, 'that I would be stupid enough to give in to their demands? Once all this is over, they'll be thrown into Howler's Peak with the rest.'

'You never learn your lesson, do you?' said Trouble, smirking. 'Copying Opal Koboi's plans to overthrow the LEP? How ingenious. I didn't think you would stoop that low.'

'I've got the LEP with me this time.' Cahartez smiled back. 'I'll authorize the return of weapons to all officers in half an hour.'

'What about those who aren't working for you?'

'They will, soon enough.'

'So who you're working with? Sool?' said Trouble, and laughed derisively. 'Oh – you didn't. He's dead politically, anyway. Bresniv was a cover for your plans, wasn't he? That was a smart move on your part.'

'Thank you.' Cahartez rose from his chair, still smiling thinly. 'I'll see you out, Commander. I trust you have your responsibilities to attend to?' He buzzed the doors open and waved the younger officers out. 'Get out.'

'Your old tactics again, I see,' said Trouble, following the rookies out. 'Order me out and run to hide your head. Isn't that brave, lads?' There was no answer from the officers.

Trouble caught the flash of metal at Cahartez's hip but stepped over the threshold, all the same. And then there was the briefest of pauses before he turned around and grabbed Cahartez's wrist, twisting the hand back on the wrist. There was a cry of pain, and the knife slid out of Cahartez's fingers and fell to the ground.

'Going the old way eh?' Trouble said conversationally, passing the Pig Blaster to one of the rookies and taking the cuffs from his own belt. 'I like the old ways. They're dirtier, but at least I can see where you're coming from.' He turned both Cahartez's arms behind the gnome's back and secured the wrists with the cuffs. 'Now what shall I do with you, hmm? Would Atlantis be good enough? You can talk with Artemis Fowl for the next century or so. Oh, and there's always Opal Koboi around for a chat. How about that?'

'Commander,' Cahartez wheezed out, as Kelp booted him through the door, 'it's not over yet.'

'Really?' Trouble took back the Pig Blaster and watched as two of the Recon rookies picked up the Chairman. 'I'm looking forward to what happens next.'

**Ys Street**

Artemis wasn't used to not being the centre of attention, particularly when something big was up. But this time, he prudently kept out of the way as the rest of the group suited up and got ready to follow Vinyáya to Police Plaza.

Holly had left earlier with her Wing Commander, both in their standard LEP uniforms and the helmet tucked safely under Holly's arm. Most unfortunately for Artemis, the washing machine had mysteriously broken down, and Iris hadn't been able to get his clothes clean for him. He rather suspected that she didn't actually care whether he got back his clothes or not. And that was a shame, because he rather liked the shirt he had worn for this visit to Haven City.

And then there had been that talk with Holly before she left, out in the passage and out of earshot from the rest.

'You're going above ground to arrest the fairy responsible for this,' Artemis had said, looking skeptical. 'But you don't even know who she is.'

'I have an idea,' Holly had replied. 'Don't worry about me, Artemis. Think about getting back home in one piece. I've promised both your mother and Butler that you'll be back soon.'

'That's not the least of my worries – however, do take care, won't you?'

'Artemis?' Holly had burst out laughing. 'Coming from you, that _is_ a bit strange. All right, I will, since you're so concerned about me.' She had punched him on the arm, playfully, and said, 'Sorry for dragging you into this.'

'Nobody expected this to happen.' He had moved away from her second punch then. 'I can't blame Vinyáya for not stopping this earlier.'

'Me neither,' Holly had admitted. 'Cahartez would have tried to put the blame on her if she had.'

_But that doesn't mean she couldn't have_, Artemis thought, watching as Iris dashed madly round the room with equipment and weapons in her hands. _And she needs a good plan now – going straight to Police Plaza with half the LEP on Cahartez's side would be foolish. Brave, certainly, but foolish._

'Look sharp, Arty boy,' Iris said, whacking him lightly with an empty cup. 'Make the coffee. Go on. I need more.' She indicated the coffee pot behind the row of computers. 'Mind you don't waste the beans – we're running low.'

He picked up the empty coffee pot and looked around for water.

'Bathroom,' said Iris, nudging him in the small of his back. 'Tap. Go.'

He left the room with the pot, thinking about a plan to help Vinyáya and the group.

'Right, he's out of here,' said Iris, the moment the door shut behind the boy. 'Listen up, guys. Rook's just got the call from his friends. Cahartez's been arrested by Trouble Kelp.'

There were a few hurrahs and cheers. Some applauded. Several others looked skeptical.

'Yeah yeah, it doesn't sound like him,' said Iris, giggling. 'I think I might just have to ask for his autograph after this. He's so bad ass – sorry, Rook!' she called, spotting the disgruntled look on Rook's face.

'So what do we do now?' asked Bloom. He was an ex-LEP officer, one of Vinyáya's oldest friends, and found it highly suspicious that a young fairy like Iris was running the show.

'We'll wait for V's signal.' Iris looked around the group, meeting doubtful gazes. 'Okay, you guys won't have wasted your all effort. She wants you to help clean up the mess once Cahartez's plans go skew-whiff – he's authorized all weapons to be returned to the officers, so you'll have your work cut out for you. And it seems that the goblins might be on Cahartez's side after all, so watch out for them. Get to Howler's Peak and warn the officers there if you can.'

'What about Captain Short?' said Hani, raising her hand. 'Does she need backup?'

'Yes, what about her?'

Every head in the room turned to look at the boy standing at the door with a coffee pot of water in his hand.

'Er.' Iris skipped over to him and took the pot away. 'Don't worry. She'll be fine.'

'I thought she said,' said Artemis, jerking his head at Hani, 'that the fairy will be unguarded and Holly won't be in any danger.'

'Yes yes, that's what she said. Sides, Holly's ace in the field,' Iris reassured him. 'Okay, guys,' she said, turning to speak to the rest of the group, 'you know what you have to do. V's signal will be coming any minute now.'

There were several loud beeps from Rook's direction. He held up his phone over his head and waved to Iris. 'V's calling. Move out.'

'All the best!' Iris thwacked shoulders as the vigilantes filed past her. 'Be a good boy, Fin!' She gave Rook a resounding smack on the cheek. 'And tell Trouble Kelp I want to see him!'

'Keep your eyes open, young lady,' Bloom reminded her as he stalked past. 'I've seen my share of firefights in the past, and tech help would be invaluable to us.'

'Will do.' Iris waved him out cheerfully. 'See ya, Bloom.'

The door clicked shut behind the group, leaving Artemis alone with Iris.

'I have a plan for them to take over Police Plaza,' said Artemis. 'Had, actually. You're sending them to their deaths. You and Vinyáya.'

'Oh sorry – you missed the news.' Iris set the coffee pot back in its stand and waited for the coffee to brew. 'Thing is, Kelp just arrested Cahartez.'

'I see.' Artemis tapped his chin thoughtfully. 'What wouldn't I do with ten of you – crime above ground would be a breeze.'

'Keep wondering, Arty boy, because that's not going to happen soon.' Iris dropped into her chair in front of the computers. 'And I wouldn't worry about Holly if I were you – she's good. I've seen her records. Makes me wonder why I copped out of the Academy when they said I was going to be the next Short. Me, I'm selfish. Thought I'd try out tech instead, and look where that got me.' She sighed and began to tap on the keyboard. 'Once this is over, I'll be out of a job.'

'Vinyáya was willing to risk it. So did the rest.' Artemis sat down in the chair next to hers. 'So why did you?'

'Fun. Not the pay. Just the fun,' Iris replied gloomily. 'Policing's a tradition in my family, really, but I didn't want it. Heck, even my boyfriend's in the LEP.' She shut one eye and turned to look at the boy. 'You, for one thing. You're confusing me. One minute you're the world's worst criminal, above and below ground, and then now you're helping us. Well…you try to, but that's not much you can do because it's mostly up to us. What happened to you?'

'I changed – for the better.'

'The good guy-bad guy thing?' Iris rolled her eyes. 'Artemis Fowl trying to be a hero doesn't have the same snap.'

'I have a spark of good inside me,' he said, smiling. 'Someone told me.'

'Yeah, your girlfriend, I reckon.'

'She's not mine,' he said, frowning.

'Nuh uh – wake up, you. I've seen how she looks at you.'

'We're friends,' he said, with quiet certainty. 'Good friends.'

'Oh I'll wait for it.' Iris turned back to the computer, busily tapping on the keyboard.

'It's Opal Koboi, isn't it?' said Artemis. 'The fairy Holly's going to arrest.'

'Good guess,' Iris muttered. Her gaze was fixed on the screen. 'How did you jump to that conclusion?'

'Genius.' Artemis leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs. 'She managed to escape under tonnes of Kraken shell in Ireland. A natural tunnel, perhaps?'

'Go on,' she said, still staring at the computers.

'She didn't go back to Haven,' he said. 'I'm guessing that she traveled by sea. It'll be harder for the LEP to track her when she's constantly on the move. And the Straits of Malacca happens to be one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. It'll be easy for her to change ships at any port she stops at and head for a place where the LEP wouldn't think of looking for her. Like Port Klang, for example.'

'Ah, you're wrong on that. The LEP _did_ look for her in Port Klang. And how did she travel on her own all the way to Malaysia from Ireland?'

'There are gaps there,' said Artemis, lacing his fingers behind his head. 'Presumably she had her contacts. Fairies who wouldn't mind working for Opal Koboi – with the right amount of money, of course. It's possible that Cahartez got to her before she even made it to Malaysia and struck a deal with her. She helps him to take over Haven and he guarantees her safety.'

'And why would Cahartez do that, hmm, Arty boy?' Iris said. 'Working with Koboi after she tried to kill us all – _twice_ – would be completely idiotic.'

'This is past Opal we're talking about,' said Artemis. 'It's a win-win situation for Cahartez. He gets to use her brains to take over Haven and the LEP, and when he succeeds, there's Opal to arrest. And if he doesn't succeed – Opal's still vulnerable and he'll still win by capturing her. Either way, he wins.'

'But it looks like he won't now, eh?' said Iris, breaking out into giggles. 'He didn't expect Trouble Kelp to arrest him.'

'A flaw in the plan, I suppose.'

Iris met his blue and hazel eyes and blushed. 'Okay, okay, I haven't told you everything. V's orders.'

'Then break the rules,' he said laconically.

'Oh boy, you're still baaad, all right.' She dropped her chin into her hands and stared at the wall, thinking. 'V didn't want Holly to get too…carried away when she went above ground to capture Opal. Said Holly hasn't got over Root's death yet, and she has to learn when to let go. And Opal's latest plans to destroy Haven would really, _really_ piss the hell out of Holly. The rest was – I don't know. V's getting a bit maudlin these days, methinks.'

'So Vinyáya's letting Holly decide what to do with Opal.' Artemis got out of his chair, anger rising in him. 'How could she.'

'Oh – you mean Holly might end up killing Opal?' Iris flinched under the boy's gaze. 'Yeah.'

'I thought Vinyáya meant well.'

'She does!' The fairy bounded over to him and grasped his shoulder. 'She does. Holly doesn't have it in her to commit murder. V said so.'

'You're right,' he said, not meeting Iris's eyes. 'And Holly knows the fairy's Opal, I think. She'll know what to do.'

* * *

**A/N:** KL = Kuala Lumpur. Locals just call the city Kay Ell.


	23. Chapter 22: Queen of Hearts

Chapter title is from Carroll's book. The man is a genius.

* * *

Chapter 22: Queen of Hearts

**Haven City**

'Back off!' Mulch yelled. 'I said back off!'

'Yeah, who's going to stop us, dwarf?' The goblin leered at him, flames shooting in thin streams out of his nose. 'Your boyfriend?'

'Hey!' Doodah yelled from inside the PI firm. 'I resent that!'

'LEP's not going to do anything,' said another goblin, juggling a fireball in his hands. 'They're letting us do what we like.'

'Yeah,' said a third goblin. 'This is like the rebellion again, innit?'

''Cept there's no Koboi.'

'Or Softnoses.'

'Or LEP.'

'I miss those Softnoses.'

Mulch kicked one of them in the shin, hard. It didn't do anything except make the goblin angrier and lose his grip on the fireball. The ball of flame bounced down the street, scattering curious bystanders.

'See, one of your friends shot one of us,' said one of the goblins. His skin was half-off him – it was shedding time, but he was having too much fun to stop. 'And now we're getting our own back.'

'And no LEP to stop us,' another snorted. He conjured another fireball and lobbed it down the street. Fairies scrambled to get out of the way. 'Want one, stumpy? Ain't no officers to stop us.'

'Wrong.'

Mulch saw the figure in grey behind the goblins and ducked in time.

The goblin keeled over, unconscious before he hit the ground. The rest of the goblins turned around, only to be hit by rapid Neutrino shots.

'Nasty,' said the fairy. 'You okay, Diggums?'

'Who're you?' he called.

'Come see me later!' The fairy waved and disappeared down the next street with another garbed in similar grey. 'I make wicked slug jelly!'

**Operations Booth, Police Plaza**

Trouble Kelp barged into the Ops Booth without so much as a knock or greeting, but Foaly was ready to buzz him through the minute he saw the commander through the glass.

'Got him?' said the centaur.

Trouble dropped the Pig Blaster onto a worktable and collapsed into the nearest chair.

'Did you?' Foaly demanded, swinging Trouble round to face him. 'I couldn't see what happened in Cahartez's office – he requested all security cameras to be removed months ago. Should have been suspicious about that. So, did you?'

'Yes,' said Trouble, rubbing his tired eyes. 'I did. He's locked up in one of the cells here. I'm the only one with the access card.'

Foaly clutched his chest in exaggerated relief. 'You're my saviour, Kelp. Should I ask them to award you with a medal?'

'No, just get me coffee,' said the commander. He slumped over on the worktable and began to snore.

'I always knew he would come to this,' Foaly remarked to one very interested techie. 'Well, what are you waiting for?' he snapped. 'Get the coffee. We can't have one of our commanders out cold right now.'

The unlucky elf hopped to it, running out of the Ops Booth in search of coffee.

'Never liked Cahartez's stinking vole curry anyway,' said Foaly, suppressing a genteel burp. He picked up the carton of curry that Trouble had left for him earlier and tossed it into the recycling bin.

'You there, Foaly? Foaly?'

It was Holly Short. On an LEP helmet in Malaysia when she was supposed to be out with the patrols in Haven City.

**Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia**

'You there, Foaly?' said Holly, trying to establish a connection on her helmet back to Foaly in the Ops Booth. 'Foaly?'

'Holly?' The centaur sounded surprised. 'I thought you were on patrol. What are you doing above ground? I didn't give you clearance.'

'Elevator Plaza's taken over by the other half of the LEP,' Holly said, grimacing. 'Those working for Cahartez. Vinyáya got me through; they didn't suspect anything because she was a Council member.'

'Vinyáya's there with you too? What's going on?'

'She's still in Haven,' said Holly, watching the city flash by beneath her through her helmet visor. 'Are we on a secure connection? I don't want anyone listening in on us.'

'Yep, secure,' said Foaly. 'What in Frond's name are you doing in Malaysia? How come Vinyáya's involved in this? And where did you get the helmet?'

'Remember those vigilantes?' said Holly, climbing higher and emerging in the clear air above the clouds over the city. 'Vinyáya started the group. She got me a helmet – one of Section Eight's old junk. And I'm here to capture the fairy responsible for everything that's happened.'

'Whoa, slow down. There's still a lot of things I don't understand – '

'Sorry, Foaly, but we're out of time,' said Holly, heading to the coordinates marked on the helmet display. Iris had done her magic on the helmet and was currently following Holly's flight over the city, although she had to keep off the broadcast channel to enable the centaur to speak to Holly.

'Who's monitoring your flight?' Foaly said. 'And is said person listening in too?'

'Yeah,' Holly replied, dipping below the clouds for a look at the city. The place was coming up – she could see it, a collection of brightly lit buildings on a slope near the main city. The station she was headed to was a landline, however, so she would have to fly lower to enter it. 'Iris Moonlove. Heard of her? She's from the Academy.'

'Might have,' Foaly said. 'Why Central Station, Holly? I need answers.'

'Cahartez didn't act on his own, Foaly,' she said, dipping below the clouds for a second time. There – she was almost there now. Somewhere in there was their fairy. 'Foaly? Can you get me the exact location of the KTM line? Trains. Runs from Port Klang.'

'Yeah yeah,' he griped. 'You'll have a lot of explaining to do when you get back, miss. Head lower – there you go. I've sent the coordinates to your helmet, and the exact location. Oh, and a map as well. You want the blueprint of the place?'

'No,' she said, manipulating the wings to drop out of sight. There was a highway running parallel to the tracks, and although she was shielded, the bright lights from the street lamps would surely show up the shimmer. The tracks wound beneath her, heading straight to KL Sentral.

'Station's coming up,' said Foaly. 'Switch to infrared when you enter – there's a stretch with no lights before you hit the platform.'

It began to rain just as the dark mouth of the station loomed ahead, the heavy clouds above releasing their weight over the city. Holly could smell the wet earth and hear the patter of raindrops hitting the trees and bushes beside the tracks, but she wasn't paying attention to them. There was a fairy to capture – but at what price?

'_Why won't you tell me, Vinyáya? Don't you trust me?'_

'_On the contrary, Holly,' said Vinyáya, 'I trust you more than any of the others. That's why I asked you to do this.'_

'_It's Opal, isn't it?'_

_Vinyáya had remained silent on that._

'_I don't want to choose,' Holly said. 'I'm going to capture her, do my duty as a Recon officer, and return to Haven with her. She'll be sent back to the past, where she belongs.'_

'_It's not so simple,' Vinyáya said, sadly, slowly. 'Just do what you think is right.'_

She was in the tunnel now, seeing the world through infrared. Opal Koboi – if it was Koboi – would be on the platform. Waiting for her.

It didn't seem right. Was this Opal, waiting for her to capture her and take her back to Haven? Her instincts were telling her that there was much more to it than a simple arrest.

'I've got a tracker signal,' said Foaly. 'Odd. It's coming from the platform further up.'

She could see lights now, dim ones. A few fluorescent lights had been left switched on to illuminate the silent platform through the night. She turned off the infrared and maneuvered the wings to fly closer to the platform.

A figure sitting on the stairs turned to follow her flight. Holly hovered over the tracks, scanning the platform for any hidden fairies. There was none. There was only the figure on the stairs leading to the main concourse of the station above, watching her. The silhouette of pointed ears gave away the fairy, showed her for what she was. A discarded scrap of material lay on the steps beside the fairy – probably she had disguised her ears underneath the headscarf to prevent any human from noticing. Simple, but clever. There was no need for surgery or drastic changes to hide the fairy's appearance, and she wouldn't look out of place in a headscarf in Malaysia.

'It's one of my nano trackers,' Foaly said. 'Hold on, I'll try to get audio.'

'Foaly,' Holly whispered. 'She's looking right at me.'

'She? Wait – here. She's…speaking.'

'Captain Short? Captain Short, I presume. I'm looking right at you, so if you would kindly turn off your shield and come speak to me?' The voice seemed slightly distorted, probably due to interference and the need for the trackers to be fine-tuned. There was a steady beat under the voice, almost like heartbeats. Holly wondered if they belonged to her or the speaker.

'Those are the heartbeats,' Foaly said, confirming her suspicions. 'Still got some kinks to straighten out, those trackers. And that's…Opal. Opal Koboi. D'Arvit.'

Holly shut off her shield and alighted on the platform, facing Opal.

'Hello, Opal,' she said calmly, walking across the platform to the stairs. 'We've been looking for you.'

'Someone else got to me first,' the pixie answered, her large eyes watching every move from Holly.

'Cahartez, isn't it?' Holly took off the wings and placed them at the foot of the steps. No use being hampered with them if – if something should happen. A firefight, maybe. With Opal, anything was possible. Holly climbed the steps up to Opal, her eyes never leaving the pixie's face.

'Don't you just love the irony?' Opal giggled. 'I know I do.'

Holly sat down on the steps across from Opal and took off her helmet, despite Foaly's protests. 'Not taking over the world then?'

'Oh, you have to start small.' Opal smiled an angelic smile that you would normally expect to see on the faces of children. 'World domination needs to be achieved in stages, I've learned. Besides, it was _such fun_ seeing Haven being overrun by the LEP themselves and everyone else just going crazy.'

'You could have stayed hidden longer,' said Holly, still calm. 'Take over the world at once.'

'Wait?' Opal scoffed. 'I don't need to wait. Cahartez was ready to work with me, once I offered the right amount of money. With the LEP behind me, I can do whatever I like. World domination comes after.'

'This isn't taking over the world, isn't it?' said Holly. 'This was about revenge.'

'No, you're partly wrong there,' said Opal, wagging a finger. 'Your fat little friend said something about setting the world on fire just to watch it burn. I wanted to have the fun of seeing Haven go up in flames, so I planned it. And believe me, it's been really, really satisfying. Not to mention the fact that I'll be in charge of the LEP once this is over, and then world domination would be just so _easy_.' She leaned towards Holly and grinned, showing her small pearly teeth. 'But you were partly right too. This _was_ about revenge.'

'You framed Artemis. You told them to kidnap me,' said Holly, her expression giving nothing away. 'And you're going to put the blame on Foaly with the nano trackers, isn't it?'

'Oh, that.' Opal waved a hand dismissively. 'Cahartez didn't trust me to let me go where I liked – he made me swallow one of the tracker pills. Why do you think I'm left unguarded right now? He's listening to everything I say back in Police Plaza. But that centaur – I've something planned for him.'

'Cahartez is going to betray you once your plan succeeds.'

'Yes, I do know that. But do you think I haven't thought of a way out? I always do. Oh, by the way, I've got something planned for _you_ too. I knew you would come to get me, despite my best plans to get you out of the way.'

'The phones?'

'Clever,' Opal squealed, clapping her tiny hands. 'Yes. The phones. What you don't realize, Captain, is that every conversation and call you make on your phone is recorded. The records can be accessed by anyone who knows where to look – which, naturally, includes me. And I've got your phone and Artemis's.'

Holly waited as the pixie took out a fairy phone from the pocket of her _baju kurung_ and dangled it before the elf's face.

'Not going to grab it, Holly?' Opal taunted. 'Come on, grab the phone and give it back to your darling Arty. I've been listening to your conversations, and they've been so _very_ interesting.' She placed it on the step between her and Holly. 'And I've found out so much about you both. How you defeated me when I planned a rebellion with the goblins, and when I nearly exposed fairy civilization to the humans. Why is it you can't leave me alone?'

'You killed Julius,' said Holly softly.

'Oh yes, I did.' Opal's eyes gleamed in the light from the main station above. 'That was one thing you couldn't stop me from doing. And the LEP put the blame on you, didn't they? Oh dear me.'

'It's in the past,' Holly said, her hands clenching involuntarily. 'They know the truth.'

'The truth, Holly, can be manipulated. Just like people.' Opal picked up the phone and tossed it from hand to hand. 'I read about Fowl while I was waiting in this boring city. _Aurum potestas est_ – gold is power. A genius and an honest one too. I like him already. It's such a shame that he's on your side now – which is pretty odd, isn't it, when you first met him because he kidnapped you for gold? You do pick your friends, don't you, Captain?'

'Artemis knows what is right, Opal,' Holly said. 'He's not going to work with you any time in the future.'

'Oh, I know.' Opal laughed girlishly and tapped the phone against her cheek. 'He's got you. And the rest of your fine, upstanding friends. Which is why I'm not going to try to get him on my side. I'm going to get everyone else on my side, really, against you both.'

'What do you mean?' Holly could feel her fingernails digging into the palms of her hands, but she kept her fists at her sides.

'Like I said, I have a record of all your conversations. It would be so easy,' said Opal, winking and tapping a finger against the phone, 'to – let me say – _rearrange_ the words and give your conversations whole new meanings.'

'The People aren't against Artemis, Opal,' said Holly, trying to smile. 'Once your plans fall apart, they'd know that he didn't have a hand in them.'

'Aren't you listening, Holly?' Opal said mockingly. 'I'm going to turn them against you and your darling Mud Boy. They know you're close friends, but maybe you've been hiding something from them? Inappropriate relations, perhaps? Closer relations between you and the human than what we would consider necessary?'

Holly could feel the bile rising in her throat. She had to speak up, to insist that they were just friends, nothing more. Foaly was still listening through the helmet – but she couldn't speak. And Opal continued to stare at her with those mocking eyes, waving the phone before her eyes…

_He's a child!_ _He's just a child. I would never – _

_But you kissed him when you went back in time._ The voice was back, cold and logical. _Did you mean it, or didn't you?_

_I was in my adolescent body at the time. I saved him and I was happy about it._

_And yet you continued to hope._

_He's still a child. He's a human. He's still a child. We're different species. He's still a child – _

'Holly?' Opal snapped her fingers in front of the elf's wide eyes. 'Are you listening to me? Once I play back the conversations to the People, I'm sure they'd be very interested to know what has been going on between you two…'

* * *

Iris pounded the table in fury. She had been listening in to the conversation, despite Foaly's best efforts to get her off the helmet frequency and keep the channel clear for himself. 'I hate that pixie,' she said through clenched teeth. 'That little bi –'

Artemis silently handed her a steaming mug of coffee. Iris took a large gulp and spluttered.

'Sorry about that,' she said. 'And thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

She saw the look on his face and quietly terminated the connection to Holly's helmet. There were some things she was better off not knowing.

* * *

'Holly?' Opal snapped her fingers again. 'It's no fun when you're not fighting back.'

Holly seemed to move in a dream after that. Tried as she could to remember the events after she got back to Haven, everything seemed to be a blur after that moment. She knew, vaguely, that she had grabbed Opal's hand, the one holding the phone. Then she was bashing the hand down on the step, again and again, until there was blood on both their hands. Opal screamed in pain and dropped the phone, where it bounced down the steps and came to rest at the bottom of the stairs.

'You will never,' said Holly, her voice steady as she held Opal's hand in a tight grip, 'do that to me. Or Artemis.'

'I will, in my future,' said Opal, her eyes close to Holly's face. 'And to Julius Root too. I'll look forward to it.'

Holly knew, dimly, that she had pulled out the Neutrino. She glanced at it through a red haze, flicking the setting up to three. The highest setting.

'Going to kill me?' Opal jeered. 'Neutrinos don't kill. But you can try aiming at my head – that's the weakest spot. Go on, try it.'

Holly held up the gun, aiming it at the pixie's temple. One pull of the trigger and then –

_And then what, Holly? Is this going to answer your questions? _

'Go on,' said Opal. 'I'm sure the LEP wouldn't mind their golden girl killing someone who's tried to destroy the People so many times. Just pull the trigger, Captain. And then I'll be unrealized possibility, and oh – how happy – you'll have your commander back with you, alive and well. Wouldn't that be nice?'

_Will you save Julius by doing this? _

Holly released the shot, just one, but she had lowered her hand before that and aimed it at the phone at the bottom of the stairs. The Neutrino's beam fried the phone's circuits, destroying all information it contained.

'I don't want your blood on my hands,' she said quietly, taking the cuffs from her belt. 'That's why I'm letting you go.' She twisted Opal's arms behind her back and bound the pixie's wrists together tightly. 'I'll let the LEP deal with you.'

'That's the trouble with you,' said Opal, as Holly hauled her to her feet. 'You see everything in black and white, good versus evil. It isn't always like that.'

'I think I'd rather take my chance with that.' Holly pushed the pixie down the steps to the platform. 'You're going back to the past and you're going to do everything you've done, but I can live with that. It's my past now.'

'Captain Short?' Someone laid a hand on her shoulder. 'Captain Burbage of Retrieval One with the squad. Got the call from Foaly.'

Holly stepped back as the Retrieval team unshielded and took over. One officer knocked Opal out with a sedative patch; another clipped her to his belt and checked her cuffs. Then Captain Burbage saluted to her, and the squad fired up their wings and flew out into the storm outside, taking Opal back to Haven City with them.

She went back to retrieve the helmet from the stairs, sparks dancing over her hand as they magically healed her cuts and bruises. She put on the helmet, half-listening to Foaly jabbering away on the speakers.

'We got her,' said Foaly chirpily. 'Finally! Thought we lost her in Ireland. Good job, Holly. Now come back here and let's celebrate eh? How about some sim-wine? Caballine gave me quite a good bottle for my last birthday, I know you don't drink but you'll like it, I think…'

She paused on the last step and kicked apart the remains of Artemis's fairy phone with her foot.

_What happens next? _she wondered. _Where do we go from here?_

'Holly?' Foaly was saying. 'Hello? Earth to Holly. Kelp wants to see you, said he's never felt so proud. Well that's me saying it, but he looks it. Come on, we're waiting for you in Police Plaza. Things are looking better in Haven – we've got it sorted out. Almost, really. But you know what I mean.'

She strapped on the wings and rose in a lazy loop, her fingers brushing the grey walls of the station. She could smell the wet earth and hear the rain pounding outside, and her hand was healed completely, back to normal.

_It's over_, she thought, emerging out of the station into the rain. _Things will be back to normal. I'm glad._

_

* * *

_**A/N:** I think the Queen of Hearts screams _"Off with their heads!"_ all the time not because she _wants_ to, but because she _can._ The same goes for Opal.

Central Station = KL Sentral = main transport hub in Kuala Lumpur. (Locals just call the place KL Sentral.) The KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu) Komuter lines are land lines which run from outlying suburban areas to KL, where they converge at KL Sentral. And yep, there's a Komuter line from Port Klang to Sentral. Port Klang happens to be the busiest port in Malaysia.

And I destroyed the phone! *headdesk* The A/H shippers won't be too happy XD *runs away from the impending wrath of the fangirls*


	24. Chapter 23: Looking for Trouble

Chapter 23: Looking for Trouble

**Haven City**

'Idiots!' Hani yelled, releasing a few shots at the goblins further down the street. 'Get lost, you idiots!'

Fairies cowered behind her, with Laurel and Rook attending to them, giving them shots of healing sparks and overseeing minor injuries. Rook tossed his gun over to Hani, keeping his hands free to heal several of the fairies who had been hurt by the fireballs from the goblins. Laurel was trying to console the children among them, who were crying in fear and pain.

'I need the back-up,' said Hani, running swiftly down the street after the goblins. 'Iris?'

'Stay where you are,' Iris replied hurriedly. 'Stay with Rook and Laurel, Hani. Please. Bloom's coming up –'

'They threw fireballs at kids!' Hani said, skidding down the next junction. 'Laurel's out of magic, Rook doesn't have much left.'

'What happened to the healing packs?'

'Out, all out. We met so many on the way – all hurt by explosives.' Hani choked down a sob and turned the next corner, her quarry still ahead of her. 'I'm going to kill those bastards. Where's the damn LEP?'

'Stay where you are, Hani,' said Iris. 'Frond, _don't go after them on your own!_'

'Hani, stop it.' It was Bloom's gravelly voice. 'I'm sending others after those goblins.'

'I still have the guns – '

'Stay where you are. That's an order.'

'Bloom – '

'Hani!' Iris screamed down the earpiece. 'Stop!'

The pixie came to a halt, falling to her hands and knees. But it wasn't because of Iris or Bloom – she had turned the corner and came face-to-face with a band of LEP officers. They had their weapons with them – Cahartez had authorized weapons to be returned to all officers – and they were staring at her.

'Back away,' said Bloom in her earpiece. 'Put down your weapons and back away. That's it.'

Hani put both guns down on the road and stood up slowly, hands raised palms up. The officers watched her without moving, without lowering their weapons. She shuffled backwards, hoping that none of the officers would try to take a shot at her. That was the difficult part about going against the LEP this time – you didn't know if they were on your side or not. Earlier efforts to rescue civilians had thrown the vigilantes against LEP officers who were doing the same themselves, and arguments had arisen when both sides had accused the other for causing the mayhem and casualties.

One officer came towards her, his gun still raised. She kept going back, hoping she wouldn't trip over her own feet. He reached out and grasped her arm. He raised the visor of her helmet, meeting her terrified eyes.

'Going somewhere?' he said, towing her over to the rest of the group.

She dug in her heels, pulling back her arm roughly. Then she was sprinting down the way she had come by, hearing the sound of feet hitting tarmac behind her. The officers were closing in on her.

'Hani, listen carefully,' said Iris, struggling to keep her voice calm. 'Bloom wants you to take the next corner – head for Police Plaza.'

'It's suicide!' Hani vaulted the low wall and came down in a narrow alley. She knew this place well, having done stakeout here when she wasn't busy selling desserts and watching Holly at the same time.

'Yes, there,' said Iris. 'Get there and head straight for Trouble Kelp's office. Or the Ops Booth, although you have to be really careful on that, because we know how paranoid Foaly can be, and it'll be silly for you to be killed when you've been so far –'

'You're blabbering,' said Hani, cutting off Iris's near hysterical chatter as she ran through the open door of an empty shop. The windows had been smashed recently, judging by the glass on the road and inside the shop. The shelves looked as though looters or thieves had ransacked them. But she knew that LEP officers had done this, having seen them herself.

_What a mad world this is_, she thought, leaping over the wall into someone's backyard. _And I thought this was better than selling cendol._

'Have you lost them?' said Iris shakily. She had never encountered anything like this before – the previous confrontations the vigilantes had with the LEP officers paled in comparison with the events she was witnessing on the monitors from the safety of Ys Street. With weapons restored to the officers, the officers on Cahartez's side were going all out to follow their orders. It seemed that the news that Trouble Kelp had arrested their leader hadn't reached them yet.

'I think so,' said Hani. She landed lightly on the back road leading to Police Plaza, her legs aching with the run. 'Trouble Kelp.'

'What?' said Iris, giggling nervously. 'Still need back-up?'

Hani's reply stayed unspoken. Half the officers had caught up with her, their guns trained on her. She edged towards one of the back doors of Police Plaza, her breath catching in her throat. So close, so close…

The door swung open, knocking her on the shoulder. She jumped back, waiting for the shot to come from behind the door.

It was Grub Kelp, Trouble's little brother. He rubbed his eyes blearily and stared at her. 'What are you doing here?' he said. And then he saw the other officers.

'Are you trying to shoot me?' he said indignantly. 'What the D'Arvit do you think you're doing?'

'What?' said Hani in confusion.

'You're trying to shoot me, aren't you?' said Grub, raising his own gun. 'Yeah?'

'Yeah.' Hani edged nearer to him, watching the other officers out of the corner of her eye. They were moving closer, but warily this time.

'I knew it – '

Grub Kelp never got the chance to finish that sentence, because Hani tackled him and wrenched the Neutrino out of his hand. She pulled him into Police Plaza with her and slammed the door.

'Oh my Frond,' Iris breathed. 'You could've been killed, you idiot.'

'Shut up,' said Hani, dragging Grub up the passage with her. She kicked the buzz baton out of Grub's hand and pushed him against the wall. 'Take me to your brother. Commander Kelp. I need to see him.'

'Are you going to kill me?' Grub quavered, staring at the crazy pixie pinning him to the wall.

'No,' she laughed, releasing him. 'Come on.'

She heard the blasts from outside, and the voices of officers as they broke down the door she had slammed in their faces.

'Take me to your brother,' she whispered, pulling him by the collar up the passage to the main part of the building.

'Oh my Frond,' said Iris again. But Hani wasn't listening to her.

**Operations Booth**

'Kelp?' Foaly shook the commander by the shoulder, rousing the elf out of a deep sleep.

'Whark?' Trouble opened his eyes and raised his head a few inches off the table. 'What?' he said, sitting up. There was a blinder of a headache coming on – he needed coffee. Lots of it. Enough to drive a pixie completely insane with caffeine. But there was no coffee in sight.

'Coffee,' said Foaly, shoving a full cup into Trouble's hand. 'Vigilante. Outside. Grub.'

Trouble gulped down half the cup before his eyes focused on the spectacle outside the window of the Ops Booth. There was a pixie in some grey uniform outside, holding Grub hostage. Trouble groaned and finished the coffee.

'Said she wants to speak to you.' Foaly hiding a snigger behind his hand as Trouble staggered out of his seat. 'Poor Grub.'

'He's my brother, pony,' said Trouble, knocking the tin-foil hat off the centaur's head. 'Let me out.'

Foaly buzzed the door open and picked up the hat, muttering darkly under his breath.

'Yes?' Trouble looked from his little brother to the pixie. Amazing. And she was half a head shorter than him. Grub would be ironing his shirts for the next ten years or so.

'We need you to order all LEP weapons to be disabled,' said the pixie. 'We know about –'

'We?'

'We've been helping the LEP against rogue officers. We know you arrested Cahartez.'

'All right, go on,' said Trouble.

'Now with all weapons returned to the officers, they're doing what they like out there, those who're working for Cahartez. They haven't heard about the arrest yet, I think. But they're working with the goblins. And it's not good.'

'So you want me to tell the officers to put down the weapons and go about their business unarmed? While you and those with illegal weapons run around with your own?'

The pixie hesitated. 'It's better than having all of them shoot at civilians. And the explosives are injuring so many people, Commander.'

'I don't have the authority,' said Trouble slowly. 'Although I see what you mean. But that's not the best way.'

'Maybe Vinyáya can help?' The pixie held out her phone to Trouble. 'I can get her on the line.'

'Vinyáya's in on this?' Trouble stared from the pixie, and back to Grub. Grub's incredulous look mirrored his own.

'Go on, Trubs,' said Grub, twisting in the pixie's hold. 'She's going to break my neck. Ow. I think I sprained it already.'

'You can't sprain your neck,' the pixie snapped. 'And stop whining.' She let him go and gave him a push in the commander's direction. 'Are you sure you're Retrieval?'

'Yes!' Grub rubbed his neck and pouted. 'Hurry up, Trubs.'

'Don't call me Trubs,' said Trouble, raising the phone to his ear. 'Wing Commander Vinyáya?'

'Hello, Trouble.' It was Vinyáya, her voice calm despite the noise Trouble could hear in the background. Voices. People.

'Where were you at the meeting?'

'I was…busy. Listen to me, Trouble. I want you to get one of the spokespeople to announce the news of Cahartez's arrests. Call up the TV stations if you can. Publicity, we need publicity. It should scare the officers who are working for him.'

'It might just backfire,' he said.

'You've got to do it, Kelp,' said Foaly, speaking in his other ear. 'Holly just arrested Opal Koboi, but we don't know what else Koboi's planned.'

'Koboi? What does she have to do with this?'

'Everything, Trouble. She helped Cahartez to plan it.'

Trouble mulled over Vinyáya's words for a few seconds or so. With Koboi involved in this, things could turn ugly very soon. 'All right, I'll do it. Call up the TV stations, Foaly. I need to speak with those clowns.'

'Anything,' said Hani, 'as long as it makes things better.'

**Ys Street**

Iris was sobbing, hiding under the table with a full pot of coffee with her. Artemis could only sit and watch her cry her eyes out from the monitors, where he was helping to supervise the group's movements across Haven City.

'I didn't think it'd be that bad,' she was saying, hiccupping slightly as she poured more coffee. 'I didn't think it'd be that bloody. And when Hani ran in there, I thought she'd be dead for sure – ' Iris put down the cup and covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking with fresh sobs.

'I thought you were in the Academy,' said Artemis, his fingers busily at work on the keyboard.

'I dropped out because – don't tell anyone – I couldn't stand the _blood_!' Iris lay down on her side and wept with the utter futility of her past. 'I thought this was something I could do for fun, you know, like Batman or something. But it's all gone wrong.'

'Rook's out,' Artemis announced. One by one, the group's members were running out of magic. LEP medics and warlocks were doing all they could to help the injured, but in the confusion and panic, there was bound to be a few fairies who were missed or who didn't know where to go.

'And that's another thing,' said Iris, choking on her sobs. 'I should have sent them to complete the Ritual before all this happened – I'm so _stupid_ –'

'Don't blame yourself for this,' said Artemis. He left the computers and came to sit on the floor beside her. 'You've been doing a good job so far.'

Iris gave a sniff and sat up, her face blotchy and wet with tears. 'I can't believe you're talking to me like that.'

'What?'

'You're actually being nice.'

Artemis shrugged. 'They need you, and you're the only one who knows the systems fully. You need to stop crying to help them. So I'm helping you to.'

Iris's mouth fell open. 'You actually mean that.'

'Yes.'

'You heartless Mud Boy!' She pushed him away and marched over to the computers. 'Stay away from me and my computers, okay? Get out!'

Artemis shook his head in amusement. _Women_.


	25. Chapter 24: Tilting at Windmills

Chapter 24: Tilting at Windmills

**Police Plaza**

When he was a rookie fresh out of the LEP Academy, Trouble Kelp had sometimes wondered about the possibility of humans discovering Haven City and its inhabitants. The Lower Elements Police didn't state it out in full, as such, or even hinted at it, but there was the underlying message of every duty or responsibility he had to undertake – he was one of the many officers who were entrusted with the People's safety and future. In the event that fairy civilization was threatened, he would be among the first to get into the line of fire and risk his life to prevent further harm to the People. The Holly Short affair of yesteryear, when Artemis Fowl had nearly plunged the world into a cross-species war, had shown Trouble what humans would be capable of if they should discover Haven and the rest of the fairy cities underground. His distrust of humans had only intensified after that incident, and his commitment to his job matched the distrust.

Trouble had risen in the LEP believing that the rest of the officers – his colleagues, his friends, his crunchball mates – shared the same sense of duty and ideals as him. Even after the B'wa Kell rebellion and his exposure to the underground politics in the LEP during the course of his duties, he still held on to the belief that the People would always do what was right, that they would always have the People's interests at heart and not act on their own selfish motives.

But he wasn't too sure about that today.

Firstly, in his years in the LEP, he had not thought that a fairy could be the one who would deliberately expose the People to humans. Opal Koboi had proven him wrong twice. Secondly, the idea that the LEP themselves would play a part in trying to destroy the People and their cities had never occurred to him. And thirdly, the thought that Vinyáya – a Wing Commander and Council member, no less – should actually take the law into her own hands disturbed him far more than he would care to admit.

He had called the TV stations, as per Vinyáya's orders, and the LEP spokespeople were even now working with the reporters to straighten out the sequence of events and provide evidence of Cahartez's involvement in the mayhem of the past days. The Council had disbanded without a leader, and although Lyess had called for more emergency meetings with the LEP's captains, majors and commanders, none of the other members were ready to risk jeopardizing the situation further by holding a vote to elect a temporary leader. Council member Lope had even sent a message to Trouble, asking him to continue supervising the mop-up in Haven and ignore all orders from Lyess for high-ranking officers to return to Police Plaza. Nobody liked Lyess, and with things going as they were, her political career would probably be shot to hell once the LEP and Haven went back to normalcy.

And then there was Vinyáya. Trouble didn't know what to do about her, or her band of vigilantes running round Haven City on their own. On the one hand, they were helping the LEP – on the other, they were carrying illegal weapons with them. Trouble had not asked for all weapons to be disabled on Foaly's advice, as to do so would only muck up the situation – something they couldn't afford to do now, with half of Haven burning and most of its citizens evicted out of their homes. The news stations were already broadcasting live reports of Cahartez's arrests while Trouble sat in his office and brooded over the decisions he should take.

He stared at the empty pot of sim-coffee on his desk, drumming his fingers loudly on the surface as he thought. First Cahartez, then Opal Koboi, and there was still Holly to deal with…how did Julius Root handle these things before he went?

But Trouble Kelp was not Julius Root, and he wasn't aiming to be one.

'Kelp!' Foaly called through the closed door. 'Open up!'

Trouble buzzed him through. The centaur clopped noisily into the room and dropped a handheld computer in front of Trouble.

'I'm not too sure about this, Kelp,' said Foaly, connecting the handheld computer to the plasma screen in the room. 'Vinyáya's group is still active about Haven, and while they definitely have done some good, I'm getting reports from our officers saying that civilians are confused about the sudden turn of events. I've got all the stations showing Cahartez's arrests, but he did enough damage earlier to make everyone else think that Vinyáya's people were the ones responsible for the riots and burning.'

Trouble watched the live feed on the screen with his chin in his hand. His face was blank – not merely thoughtful, but devoid of emotion.

'Kelp?' said Foaly, looking concerned. 'You need more coffee?'

'I want them off the streets,' said Trouble, pointing a finger at the screen. 'All of them. Tell them to meet me here in Police Plaza. And get Vinyáya with them – I need to talk to her.'

'You mean…arrest them?' Foaly clapped a hand to his forehead. 'Trouble. How many people are you planning to arrest today?'

'It's just for show,' Trouble replied. 'People see what they want to see. We're giving them what they want – and in exchange, the LEP will have an easier time trying to deal with them while they clear up the mess. Oh, and I want you to ask the spokespeople to make an announcement. All officers who have been working for Cahartez will be granted conditional amnesty if they lay down their weapons and report to Police Plaza immediately.'

'That's for Internal Affairs and the Council to decide,' said Foaly uncertainly. 'Conditional amnesty?'

'What are you going to give them to reel them in then, pony?' Trouble growled. 'Money? With Cahartez out of the picture, they're either going to protest innocence or make a run for it. I prefer them to be here instead of fugitives above ground.'

'Got that,' said Foaly, sending the message over to the spokespeople on the handheld computer. 'What about the goblins?'

'Arrest the whole lot, there's nothing we can do to convince them to stop. And where is Holly?' asked Trouble, getting up from his seat with the coffee pot. 'Is she back yet?'

'Captain Burbage is on the way here with Opal. Holly's a few minutes behind.'

'What about that pixie who held Grub hostage?'

'Oh, her.' Foaly let out a snort of laughter. 'She's with Grub right now, and _he'_s holding her hostage. Said he's doing his duty as a Retrieval officer to apprehend potential criminals.'

'Good,' said Trouble, watching as the sim-coffee trickled into the pot. 'Tell her to call up Vinyáya and the rest and inform them of my decision. Hopefully they won't put up a fight when the LEP start arresting them.'

'Yep, got that too.' Foaly scratched his ear and sighed. 'Kelp, about Opal Koboi – what are we going to do with her?'

'We wipe her and send her back,' said Trouble. 'I remember you telling me about the time paradox. She needs to be sent back for the future to happen, isn't it?'

'Thing is,' said Foaly slowly, 'the Council – or what's left of it – wants her to be held in Atlantis for a while before she's sent back.'

'No,' Trouble said decisively. 'She'll be wiped and sent back. Besides, the Council doesn't have any authority left. What's left of it isn't worth speaking about, not after the head honcho's been arrested. Koboi will be mind-wiped and sent back to the past, and I want you to do it.'

Foaly keyed in the message, looking harried as he did so. 'Some aren't happy with what you did, Kelp. Going against them would only mean more trouble.'

'I have a lot of me to go round,' said Trouble, taking the first sip of sim-coffee. 'I'm sure I can spare a bit for them.'

Foaly squinted at the elf suspiciously. 'You're joking, right?'

'What do you think the LEP's paying you for, pony? Get on the job.'

**Ys Street**

'Hark! I've been hacked back!' Iris leapt away from the computers and grabbed Artemis by the collar. 'What did I tell you, Arty boy?'

He held up his hands in mock surrender. 'You can't blame me if your computers are slow.'

'Oh, hit me in the ego, right?' She dropped him and jumped back to the monitors. 'Ah well. At least the rogue officers have backed down a bit. And Hani's safe in Police Plaza with Grub Kelp. Wait – hold on a sec while I check the news.'

Artemis watched over her shoulder as she called up the relevant news portals, clicking on reports and the latest updates. Trouble Kelp's face blossomed into view on the screen, looking grim and worried.

'He's asking all rogue officers to report to HQ,' said Iris, 'said the LEP's going to give them conditional amnesty if they co-operate. All goblins are to hand themselves in to the LEP or face direct action. Oh, and the Council's temporarily disbanded until the members can agree on something. That doesn't make sense.'

'Thanks, I can read Gnommish,' said Artemis, unable to keep the smugness from his voice.

'Yeah, I know.' Iris rubbed her nose. 'Why d'you think I let you play around here? Here, take my place for a bit – I need to check this blasted hacker.'

'Hello!' Foaly's voice crackled loudly through the faulty speakers, startling both the fairy and boy. 'Sorry for the untimely hacking, but I need to get my message through quickly. Hello? Anyone there?'

'You got into my communications!' Iris shrieked, throwing herself in front of another row of computers. 'I was working on that for two weeks!' She switched on the mike and yanked it towards her. 'Right, Mr. Foaly, what is it you want?'

'Iris Moonlove, isn't it?' said the centaur. 'I've been reading your LEP file. You, miss, are a character to watch.'

'Thank you, my good sir,' she rejoined, rolling her eyes. 'Okay, what is it? Hurry up, I'm busy.'

'I know about the group Vinyáya formed,' said Foaly briskly, getting down to serious business. 'Holly's told me a bit about it, as has your friend Hani here. And Vinyáya's on the way to Police Plaza for a meeting with the Council and Trouble Kelp. Listen carefully, Iris. I want you to tell the rest of your group members to lay down their weapons when the LEP arrests them. This is just for show – we'll have to decide what to do with you later. Do you get it? Tell them to come peacefully with the officers. We need your co-operation on this.'

'I'll have to talk to V about this.'

'V? Oh, you mean Vinyáya. Go ahead, give her a call.'

Iris pulled out her phone and dialed the number, making faces at Artemis the whole time.

'V?' she said. 'Foaly said something about arrest – oh – you know about it? So I just tell them to go quietly? Okay. Right. Got that. Hani? She's with Grub Kelp – yeah – said there's nothing to worry. Bloom just passed the Northern Tunnel – yeah – all right, he'll be with you. Rook also? He's coming up on P'shog Boulevard – I'll get him to meet you on the way. Yep. See ya.' She put down the phone and looked at Artemis quizzically.

'You still there, Iris?' said Foaly.

'Yeah, here.'

'Is Artemis Fowl with you?'

'What?' She sounded so innocent. 'Fowl?'

'The Atlantis penitentiary just sent in their report. And he's out of jail because of a Council pardon. Delivered personally by Vinyáya.' Foaly sighed, a loud whoosh of static through the speakers. 'Is he with you, Iris?'

'He's here,' she said, giving Artemis a thumbs-up. 'Messing on my computers. I think he let you hack back to get his revenge against me.'

'Ah, smart Mud Boy. All right, Iris, I want you and him to come straight to Police Plaza once your members are all under arrest. Can you do that?'

'Anything for you, Mr. Foaly,' she said in a mock solemn tone. 'I've been waiting to meet you, Mr. Foaly.'

'Quote that movie to me again and I'll wreck your communications,' Foaly laughed. 'Come straight here, Iris. You don't want to see Trouble Kelp when he's angry.'

There was a buzz from the speakers when Foaly ended the call. Iris swiveled round to grin at Artemis. 'I'd _love_ to see Trouble Kelp when he's angry. Now please get away from there – I need to make a call to my boyfriend.'

**Police Plaza**

Hani was in the main lobby of Police Plaza, cuffed to one of the seats provided for fairies waiting to make their complaints or police reports on usual days. The LEP had shut the doors against possible attacks from goblins, and officers who needed to move in and out of the facility had to undergo compulsory screenings and vigorous security checks. Rogue officers trooped into the place in ones and twos and hurried across the main lobby with their eyes downcast, heading to the interrogation rooms to meet the remaining Council members and the Internal Affairs department.

'Why aren't you out there with the rest?' said Hani, smiling mischievously at Grub Kelp. 'You'll be doing more good than waiting here with me.'

'I need to make sure that you won't blow up the place,' Grub answered darkly, tapping the side of his nose in an attempt to look knowing. 'There's no knowing what your kind will do.'

'I've been searched three times and you have my phone,' she said. 'Plus I'm cuffed to the chair. What am I going to do – rip out this whole row of seats and run away? Bit conspicuous getaway, isn't it?'

'Quiet.' Grub nodded at the closed doors and the officers in charge of the security checks and screening. 'We don't know which side you're on.'

Hani decided not to go into that. Grub was right, for all he was so whiny. Then again, there must have been something in him, beneath all that complaining and waffling, which had got him into Retrieval.

'Your brother,' she said, changing the subject. 'He's new to the job, isn't he?'

'Yes.'

'Working hard, is he? He could do with some healing shots. He looks half-dead.'

'Yes,' came the terse reply.

'Hey, you're not offended, are you?'

'No. Your friends are here.' Grub's eyes followed the three grey-clad fairies as they made their way across the main lobby. 'Looks like they're not saving you.'

'I'm not too worried about that,' said Hani, stretching out on the seats. 'Wake me up when it's all over, yeah. I need my sleep.'

'That looks like Vinyáya. And that's – that's Bloom. And isn't that Rook? He used to play crunchball with me.'

'Yep.'

'Who are you people?'

Hani opened one eye and grinned. 'You tell me.'

Grub Kelp didn't answer her. He waited until the pixie was off away in her dreams, before he stood up quietly and slipped out into Haven City.

Hani sighed, happily, and returned her phone to her belt.


	26. Chapter 25: Even So

Chapter 25: Even So

**Police Plaza, Haven City**

'Thought you guys would never come,' said Hani, yawning and stretching on the seats. She smiled up at Iris and Artemis, who were sitting in the row of seats behind her. 'Where are the rest?'

'Meeting with the Council members. And Internal Affairs. And the commanders.' Iris ran a hand through her hair, mussing up her pink and purple locks into a brilliant mess. 'Poor Rook's having a hard time.'

'So why aren't you with them?'

'Foaly told us to wait here,' said Artemis.

Several officers crossing the main lobby gave the trio disapproving looks, which Artemis was happy to return with his own. Iris waved to them and grinned.

'How did you smuggle him here, anyway?' asked Hani, sitting up. 'I thought he'd be mobbed if anyone saw him out there.'

'Nah, Vinyáya got Laurel to pass me the keys to her car.' Iris brought her knees up and rested her chin on them. 'I didn't even know she _had_ a car.'

'I didn't even know you _could_ drive,' said Hani, chuckling. 'Did you throw up, Artemis?'

'Not much,' he replied truthfully.

'That's because we haven't eaten much,' said Iris. 'We couldn't leave the lighthouse, and the poor boy here was running on coffee and adrenalin. I'll get Foaly to send some –'

'Iris Moonlove?'

The three of them looked up to see an LEP officer at the end of the row of seats. He gave them a nod of acknowledgement each and went over to release Hani from her cuffs. 'Foaly says that you three should go up to the Operations Booth. I'm to bring you there.'

'Giggerty geggerty, the fun starts here,' said Iris, jumping to her feet. 'Come on, slowpokes. I want to see the pony's lair.'

They trailed after the officer through the bustling corridors, dodging officers and going up flights of stairs to the Ops Booth. Their escort remained silent throughout, evidently under orders not to speak more than was necessary to his charges.

'Here,' he said at last, stopping outside the booth. The glass windows had been blacked out, preventing anyone outside from looking in. The officer rapped on the door and stood back.

'What wouldn't I give for this security,' breathed Iris, running her hand along the wall. 'He's rigged the whole place with everything you can think of. Damn.'

The door buzzed open and a centaur stepped out, twirling his tin-foil hat in his hands. There was a big smile plastered on his horsy face.

'Artemis Fowl and Iris Moonlove. Two of my favourite people in the world,' said Foaly, motioning them through. 'Oh hello, Hani. That was some kidnapping you did earlier.'

There were other people in the booth besides Foaly. A pixie was strapped to a chair at the far end of the room, surrounded by several techies busy at work hooking her up to a machine. Artemis recognized the machine as the same one that had been used during his mind-wipe years ago. The pixie looked familiar, even when her face was obscured with a black eye mask. She turned her head when she heard the sound of the visitors entering the room.

'Opal Koboi,' said Trouble Kelp, striding up to meet the newcomers. 'Holly arrested her in Malaysia.'

'I heard,' said Artemis, looking past the techies to see Holly standing in the corner. Her arms were crossed and there was a glum look on her face. 'How's Holly?'

'Still shaken,' Trouble said, sighing. 'She told Vinyáya what happened in the station – Opal tried to goad Holly into killing her. I call that dirty.'

'Where _is_ V, anyway?' said Iris. 'She said she'll be meeting us.'

'Still in the interrogation room,' said Foaly, going past with his hands full of wires and electronic knickknacks. 'Internal Affairs isn't going to let her off so easily.'

'Aw man,' said Iris, pouting. 'Poor Fin. Why are we not there with them? We're part of the group.'

'You're not LEP,' said Trouble. 'Consider yourself lucky, miss.'

'I could have been,' she murmured, drifting away to the monitors in fascination.

'You're going to wipe her, yeah?' Hani asked, following Artemis's gaze to the pixie strapped in the chair. 'And then send her back to the past.'

'The Council's against it,' said Trouble, smirking. 'But they haven't heard what she was planning to do. The deal with Cahartez was that he would arrest her and keep her in Atlantis. What he didn't know was that he would be giving her time to break out her past self and wreak havoc. That's the problem with these people – they _don't think_.'

'Hey Kelp,' Foaly called, 'we're ready to wipe her. Any last questions?'

'Where's the warlocks?'

Foaly rounded on an unlucky techie. 'Where are the warlocks?'

'They're on the way!' the techie squeaked. 'Don't trample me!'

There were raps on the blacked-out windows. Foaly buzzed the warlocks through, N˚1 trotting into the booth in front of his mentor, with his arms spread wide and an equally wide grin on his face.

'Artemis!' he said, going to the boy and giving a surprised Artemis a tight hug round his middle. 'Good to see you again! I heard you were in Haven, but you didn't even come to visit me.'

'I was busy,' Artemis said, kneeling to speak to the demon warlock. 'Helping to save Haven.'

'Vigilante, peacekeeper, self-appointed enforcer of the law,' said N˚1. 'I heard all about it.'

'Hurry up, N˚1,' said Qwan. 'This pixie needs to be sent back immediately.'

'Of course,' said the younger warlock, shuddering as he remembered his previous encounter with Opal Koboi. 'I was put in a barrel of animal fat! Gross, disgusting, nauseating.'

'With me,' said Holly, coming out of her corner to speak to the rest. 'Hello, N˚1.'

'Holly!' The warlock went over to her, where she gave him a hug in return. 'How have you been?'

'Pretty good. How about you?'

'You're not happy,' the imp remarked, patting Holly's cheek. 'Do you want me to give you a booster?'

'I'm all right,' she protested, as N˚1 took hold of her hand. 'I'm fine.'

'We'll see about that later,' N˚1 said, winking. 'Coming, Qwan!' He followed the elder warlock across the room to Opal.

'Opal tried to get you to kill her,' said Artemis softly to the elf beside him.

Holly shrugged wearily. 'That's not a question.'

'It isn't.'

'You knew she would, didn't you?'

'I thought she might,' he admitted. 'I didn't think she would risk it.'

'She knows me too well,' said Holly, smiling bitterly. 'She told me that I could save Julius by – by killing her. That's what you did with Leon Abbot, didn't you? Unrealized possibility.'

'How did you…?'

'N˚1's told me things, even if you don't want to, Artemis.'

They watched in silence as Trouble interrogated Opal for the last time. The pixie was unco-operative, preferring to stay dumb on all the questions. He finally gave up in despair and let the techies and Foaly take over and proceed with the mind-wipe.

'I destroyed your phone,' Holly said, not meeting Artemis's eyes. 'Sorry about that. We managed to get my phone back from Opal though, but we can't call each other after this.'

'It's all right,' he muttered.

'Julius wasn't the only thing she tried to use against me,' said Holly, a lump rising in her throat. 'She…she…'

'I heard.'

'Did you?'

'Iris.'

'Oh.'

They continued waiting in silence as symbols and signs flickered on the screens, displaying Opal's memories of the future.

'I could have saved Julius.' Holly's voice broke, despite her best efforts to keep her emotions under control. 'I could have just _killed_ that – that – I could have just killed Opal and stopped her from ever doing what she did in the past.'

'You know about the time paradox,' said Artemis gently. 'You can't change events in the past –'

'What if I could, Artemis? Will things be better now if I had killed her then? Shouldn't I take a chance if I could just –'

She stopped and took a deep breath. 'Do you know how much I still regret shooting at Julius, when I tried to save him? I still lie awake thinking whether I could have saved him by not doing anything.'

'It's all in the past now,' said Artemis. 'We can't change things.'

'Why not?' She caught the tears before they could slip down her cheeks. '_Why not?_'

'Because we don't know what might have happened,' he said, smiling a dreamy little smile that Holly had not seen before; it made him look younger somehow. 'We can't go back in time and say that _this_ needs to be changed for the desired future to happen, because we don't know.'

'For all your genius, even you can't answer that?' The laugh came out more as a choke than she had intended.

'You can never predict the ways of men. Or fairies.' He cupped her face in his hands awkwardly. 'Holly, what happened cannot be changed – it's in the past, and how are we to know that changing a single event would change the rest?'

'So you're saying that, in the end, we have to accept things as they are?'

'Yes. It's not easy for you, but that's the way it is.'

'Even if I continue regretting that I wasn't able to save Julius for the second time?' The tears were falling freely now, slipping past her cheeks and dripping into Artemis's hands.

'I'm not heartless, Holly, but what I think is this: You can't change things, so there's no need to regret what might have been. Things could have been better – or, alternatively – they could have been worse. We won't know and it's not within our power to know. So we don't regret the 'what if's', because we _don't know_.'

'The next best thing, you mean.'

'Yes. Besides,' he continued, 'think of all the people you saved. Julius would be proud of what you did, Holly.'

'So many people were hurt, Artemis! They could have died – '

'No, I'm not talking about the present only, Holly. Think about the people you saved in the past – the people you might not have saved had Opal not done what she did.'

'Name me one then,' she challenged. This was too much for one day. 'Tell me one person who I would be proud to have saved.'

'My family,' he said simply. He took his hands away and turned to watch the warlocks send Opal back in time.

Holly scrubbed at her eyes, tasting her tears on her lips. She looked up to see Artemis watching her out of the corner of his eye, the familiar hazel eye focused on her. It felt strange, as always, to have one of her own eyes looking back at her from Artemis. Maybe she won't ever get used to it. And she said nothing – because, as he said, there was nothing for her to regret.


	27. Epilogue

Epilogue

**Fowl Manor, Ireland**

Holly brought Artemis back in the hour before dawn, just when the sky was turning from black to a deep blue. The boy was silent on the way home when she took him over the sleeping city and sea, the breeze roaring in their ears as they headed for Fowl Manor in the chilly air. He didn't even raise so much as a protest when she grumbled that he was getting too heavy to fly with her despite the weight reduction from the Moonbelt.

Holly manipulated the controls on the mechanical wings when they were over Fowl Manor, bringing them to a gradual descent before the front door. Artemis pulled the cam foil off and handed it back to her, still silent, still thoughtful.

'You're pretty quiet today,' she said, raising the visor of her helmet. 'Oh by the way – Iris told me to tell you that she'll send your clothes back to you soon. Said she's sorry for not washing your clothes earlier, but her washing machine was on the blink.'

'It's all right,' he said, buttoning up his jacket. 'At least the jacket was saved.'

'Joking now?' said Holly. She nudged him with her elbow. 'Go on, ring the bell. Your mother and Butler will be waiting for you.'

'You met my mother, didn't you?' he said, his hand poised over the doorbell. 'What did she say?'

'Nothing much,' said Holly. 'Oh blast – your laptop and BlackBerry's still with Foaly!'

'You can bring it back with what remains of my clothes,' he said, the corners of his lips quirking into a smile.

'I wouldn't put it past Iris to look through them too, you know,' said Holly. 'Go on, ring the bell.'

'How long was I away?'

'About…three days.'

'I see.'

'Your mother will understand, Artemis.' Holly gave his arm a reassuring squeeze.

'I didn't help you or the People – much.'

'Well, there's always a first time for everything,' she said consolingly. 'You still helped us. I wouldn't have got out of the tunnel if you hadn't gone there with Mulch.'

'It was the least I could do.'

He rang the doorbell and waited. Holly turned on her shield, vibrating out of the visible spectrum.

'Holly,' he said quietly, 'you'll keep in touch, won't you?'

'I'll try to get you a new phone,' she replied, a disembodied voice beside his ear.

'Thanks.'

The double doors opened slowly. A woman stepped into view, her long hair falling untidily down her back. She raised her hand to the blue diamond at her throat as Artemis dropped a kiss on her cheek.

'You came back in time,' she said, hugging her eldest boy. 'I was so worried.'

'I'm here, Mum,' he said, smiling into her shoulder.

'Butler told me what happened,' said Angeline, 'he's been blaming himself for not going with you.'

'I'll talk to him later.'

'And your brothers have been missing you, Artemis! Your father has been so anxious. Really, we'll have to stop you from leaving us next time.'

'I'll try not to leave too long,' he said.

'Won't you invite your friend in?' Angeline whispered.

Artemis raised his head and turned to look at Holly outside. He could still see the shimmer. The sun was beginning to creep over the horizon, throwing its first light over the grounds. A golden heat haze hovered just outside the front door, drifting uncertainly from right to left. He rather thought that Holly was shuffling in midair in embarrassment.

'Come on in,' he said to the empty air.

The haze drifted to the left and stayed there.

'I think she's a bit shy,' he whispered back to his mother.

'No matter,' Angeline laughed. 'Another time, perhaps.' She walked out to the haze and smiled. 'Thank you for bringing Artemis back, Holly.'

'See you soon, Holly,' said Artemis. He held out a hand to the haze, but Holly didn't take it. 'I'll keep an eye out for you.'

'See you, Arty,' an elfin voice said in his ear. He felt the lightest of touches on his cheek, as though invisible fairy fingers had brushed themselves across his skin. The haze drifted down the steps and over the boundary wall of the manor.

Artemis shielded his eyes and watched her go in the morning light.

'She'll come back,' said Angeline. She put an arm over his shoulders and led him inside.

_She will_, he thought, as the rest of his family trooped down the stairs to welcome him home.

**Haven City, almost eight years ago**

Opal Koboi woke up at her working desk in Koboi Labs, her cheek stuck to the polished surface. She raised her head slowly, wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth. For a moment she thought that sparks danced across her vision, but they vanished as soon as she managed to open her eyes fully.

She must have fallen asleep while working at her desk last night, but it wasn't an unusual occurrence. Nights often bled imperceptibly into days for her now, and there was no one to check on her or wait up for her back home. The only people she spoke to these days were the workers in her lab, and the Brill twins. But they weren't what she considered her equals.

It was a strange dream she had last night…something about taking over Haven City…world domination…an elf with auburn hair…a Mud Boy…and there had been –

Opal slid out of her seat and padded cat-like across the room to her computers.

There had been the LEP. And a deal with a disgraced officer. And there had been goblins…ingenious. The plan had actually looked as though it might work.

She slid the keyboard towards her, and began to plan.

* * *

**A/N:** Opal in the past is Colfer's idea :) I thought it was really neat of him to wrap up TTP like he did. This would make my fic AU once Book 7 is published then...

As Bugs Bunny puts it - "That's all, folks!" *sniff* It's been great hearing from you guys!

_I'm outta tiiiiiiime ~_ And hi-ho, off to uni I go.


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